Historically when someone mentioned the New Jersey Devils, the first thought was a stalwart defense and stellar goaltending. Despite having a litany of talented forwards throughout their storied history, the three-time Stanley Cup champions were built from the back forward under general manager Lou Lamoriello. Since their last appearance in the Final, much has changed. They have spent nearly a decade searching for the next Martin Brodeur to no avail, then spent significant draft capital on franchise-changing centers, Nico Hischier in 2017 and Jack Hughes in 2019.
Hischier has evolved into one of the elite two-way centers in the game. Last season, he set a career-high in points (80) and was the runner-up for the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL. He has lived up to his billing when taken number one and provides a diverse skillset different than Hughes. He has evolved from being named the youngest captain in the NHL who deferred to his older teammates to the voice in the room with the most gravitas at age 24. Never was his value to the team more evident than during his long absence this past November. Hughes has similarly exceeded expectations, though in a different way and if 2023 is a harbinger of the future, he is set to etch his name atop all of the Devils’ career offensive records.
Skater and Playmaker, Not a Scorer
Hughes is no stranger to breaking records. As a member of the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP), he set the career record for points, surpassing players like Patrick Kane, Auston Matthews, and Phil Kessel. He also still holds the record for assists in a career, with more than 30 assists than the next closest player. He does not hold the record for goals, currently sitting in ninth place in that category. Coming out of USNTDP, the scouting report on Hughes was that he was an elite playmaker, able to leverage his top-end skating into highlight reel plays and was the consensus best player in his class for over a year. He was expected to translate as an NHL All-Star, drawing comparisons to the skating of Jack Eichel and Connor McDavid, but he was never projected as a 40-goal scorer at the NHL level.
Hughes’ difficult first two seasons and the subsequent media and fan outcry labeled him a potential bust after he totaled 52 points in his first 117 games, failing to even place in the Calder Trophy voting. Unlike his brothers, Quinn and Luke, Jack came directly into the NHL foregoing time in the NCAA that was beneficial for them. The first two seasons for him were complicated; he was marooned on a team lacking in skilled finishers, with high expectations, and had to try to acclimate during the difficulties of the pandemic bridging his first two years. In the second game of his third season, he left the ice with an injured shoulder that eventually cost him 17 games. When he returned on Nov. 30, it was a new Jack Hughes, and from that point forward, he has scored 196 points in 155 games. After scoring just 20 goals over his first 120 games, he scored 82 goals over the next 155.
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The stark improvement was due to a combination of many factors, not the least of which is Hughes’ legendary competitiveness. In the summer of 2022, he made a concerted effort to work on his shooting, modeling his work after fellow USNTDP alum Matthews. The work has paid off, as he has now established himself as one of the premier scorers in the league. He climbed to within five goals of the team’s season record last year at the age of 21 with 43, the first player in more than 15 years to top 40 for the franchise.
Joining the Elite
The number of players who can claim to have had a superior statistical calendar year in 2023 to Hughes can be counted on one hand. In regular season games during 2023, he finished seventh in total points while playing in fewer games than all of those ahead of him. In that time, he averaged 1.41 points per game, on par with Leon Draisaitl (1.42), David Pastranak (1.39) and Nikita Kucherov (1.44). Throughout that same time, he was fifth in points per 60 minutes with 4.19, just .12 away from second overall.
Individual point percentage (IPP) is a stat used to measure how often a player records a point on goals scored while on the ice. It is a great way to measure players that drive plays. The average for forwards hovers around 68 percent. In 2023, Hughes led all NHL skaters with an IPP of 83.61. For context, throughout the first 120 games of his career, he played to a dismal IPP of 53. The improvement of 30 percentage points in just over a year is a clear indicator of the danger he now presents to opponents and how vital he is to the Devils’ attack. Another indicator of his place among the elite is that only McDavid averaged more primary assists per 60 minutes than Hughes in 2023.
Rewriting the Devils’ Record Book
Not only did Hughes join the NHL elite in 2023, but he also began to rewrite the Devils’ record book. He set the team record for points in a season with 99 and tied the team record for points in a calendar year with 113 (including playoffs). It appears only to be a matter of time before he ascends to the top of the team’s career scoring records. At the age of 22, he is already 24th in career points with 251 points in just 274 games, a pace of .91 points per game, well ahead of both Elias and Zach Parise, who have the highest point-per-game averages among the Devils’ all-time scoring leaders. His pace is only increasing; it was 1.41 over 2023 and 1.48 thus far in the 2023-24 season.
Barring further injury Hughes will be battling teammate Jesper Bratt to be the first Devils player to eclipse the 100-point mark this season. Both are on pace to get there and are separated by only one point. The Devils have also never had a 50-goal scorer. Early this season, he seemed destined to get there, but his production has slowed since his return from injury, and he will have less than a full 82 games to try to reach 50. Time is on his side, though, as the 22-year-old still has not hit his prime.
If his performance in 2023 is indicative of his future, Jack Hughes now deserves to be talked about amongst the NHL’s elite scorers as his calendar year stats match up well alongside Pastranak, Kucherov, Draisaitl, and McDavid. The Devils’ all-time leaderboard lacks players who have averaged a point per game for their career. If he remains healthy and continues his career with the team beyond his current contract, Hughes is on pace to break all the team records and be regarded as the best forward in franchise history.