Hughes impresses with talent, maturity for Devils, Schneider says: report

Jack Hughes has flashed the skill that made him the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft during his rookie season with the New Jersey Devils, but Cory Schneider said he's also impressed with the center off the ice.

"He's definitely mature in certain ways like the way he carries himself and the way he acts in the locker room," Schneider said in an interview with TSN on May 15. "He gets it; and between his family -- brothers, father and mother -- they've obviously done a great job teaching him what this takes and how to be, because it's a unique situation. He's mature beyond his years in that sense. And then there's other areas where he's still a teenager."

The bond between Hughes, who turned 19 on May 14, and Schneider has grown since Hughes moved in with the goalie and his family for his first season in New Jersey. The two were teammates for the United States at the 2019 IIHF World Championship and the idea was to help Hughes get adjusted to life in the NHL.

Hughes, whose 154 assists and 228 points in two seasons for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program are each program records, has 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 61 games for the Devils (28-29-12). New Jersey was 13 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets for the two wild cards into Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference when the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

"He's got all the talent in the world," Schneider said. "He's incredibly skilled, smart and works hard. He wants to be the best. He's hard on himself. Driving home with him after games, I was sort of saying, 'Hey man, I know you're used to putting up two or three points a night [and] those games are going to happen, but not every night, so don't be too hard on yourself. Demand a lot, but understand it's going to be a little bit of a grind and you're going to learn, you're going to get better.' So, I think he understands that and knows what he has to do. [He] is thinking, 'OK, how do I get better? How do I get more dominant and become one of the best players in the League?' That's what he wants."

After a slow start, Schneider played 14 games for Binghamton of the American Hockey League, and goalie Mackenzie Blackwood emerged for the Devils. He leads NHL rookies in wins (22), starts (43), saves (1,328) and shots against (1,452). He has a 2.77 goals-against average, .915 save percentage and three shutouts in 47 games and had an NHL career-best 171:37 shutout streak from Feb. 6-13.

"He's got all the tools," Schneider said of Blackwood. "It's just incredible. You see him as a person and you're just like, 'This guy is big, he's strong, he's fast, one of the most explosive guys I've ever seen.' He's [6-foot-4, 225 pounds], so he should probably be a tight end in the NFL and not a goalie. I was joking when we took him [No. 42 in the 2015 NHL Draft] that if we're making goalies like this nowadays then what kind of chance do we have as normal guys?"

It's been a tough past few seasons for Schneider since he had core muscle surgery in May 2016 and torn cartilage in his left hip two years later. He did not win his first game this season until Feb. 25, when he made 27 saves in a 4-1 victory against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. He's 3-6-2 with a 3.53 GAA and .887 save percentage in 13 games (11 starts), but 3-0-1 with a 1.50 GAA and .952 save percentage in his past four, including a 34-save shutout at the Anaheim Ducks on March 1.

Schneider has two seasons remaining after this one on a seven-year contract he signed with the Devils on July 9, 2014 and said he is motivated to continue his NHL career at age 34.

"As a competitor, you want to be out there and want to play at the highest level and be the best you can be," Schneider said. "It's been a couple weird years for us and [my family has] been there supporting me. It'd be nice to come back and be home and be here and have them watch me play and show them that I can still do this, so that's a big motivation for me.

"But also just proving that, even at this age, I can still play well and be effective, maybe not in the role or in capacity that I did earlier in my career, but in some kind of way I can provide value on and off the ice for the Devils, and that's just an internal drive to prove that and show that."