CHICAGO -- Jack Hughes is out week to week for the New Jersey Devils because of an upper-body injury he sustained in the first period of a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Friday.
The 22-year-old forward crashed shoulder first into the end boards at 9:56. He split two defenders and carried the puck into the slot before taking a shot that was stopped by Blues goalie Jordan Binnington. Hughes then lost his balance and slid into the boards.
He got up on his own and skated to the bench, then was part of a power play that began at 10:50 but soon left the ice for good. He missed the final 9:05 of the first and all the second period before New Jersey announced he would not return.
"Actually, I think we're fortunate," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "He came back, he tried a shift, we got him on his way home to be taken care of by people back in Jersey."
Hughes has 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in 10 games this season, which is tied for the NHL lead with Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson (six goals, 14 assists in 11 games).
The No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Hughes has 227 points (92 goals, 135 assists) in 254 games.
It's the latest injury for the Devils (7-3-1), who are already without center Nico Hischier (upper body), forward Tomas Nosek (lower body) and defenseman Colin Miller (lower body). None of the four are on New Jersey's current four-game road trip, which concludes at the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.
"Every team has to deal with injuries," Ruff said. "Sometimes you have to deal with key injures. We’re dealing with a couple of key injuries. You take Hischier out, you take Hughes out, you take a couple of top centermen. At the same time it's a great opportunity for other guys to step in. We're fortunate that we have (Dawson) Mercer who can play in the middle, (Erik) Haula can play in the middle, (Chris) Tierney can play in the middle, so we have some guys who can step in. Michael McLeod has been playing well. It's tough to replace what went out, but it's a big opportunity for the guys who are stepping in."
NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report
