The New Jersey Devils have sadly announced the catastrophic injury to their most talented player.
NEWARK, New Jersey The New Jersey Devils have a 21-14-2 record with 44 points after 37 games. As of this writing, the team holds the first wild card spot and is fourth in the Metropolitan Division.
Once more, injuries are starting to pile up after Timo Meier was placed on injured reserve on Saturday and Tomas Nosek went into long-term injured reserve (LTIR) on Sunday. On January 5, defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler broke his foot, and on January 6, Jack Hughes suffered an upper-body injury.
Right now, seven different Devils players are sidelined with injuries. Some, like defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Siegenthaler, will be sidelined for an extended period of time, and Meier and Hughes have no set return date.
Following a few practices in Newark, the team will embark on a challenging three-game road trip to play the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning.
This season will be New Jersey’s first encounters with Tampa and Florida and its third meeting with Boston.
With 43 points, the Lightning trail the Devils in the standings and are currently outside of a wild card spot as of this writing. They’ve won five of their last ten games, going 5-5-0. They have one more game before hosting New Jersey on Thursday night.
The Panthers, who are possibly the hottest team in the league going into this week, are a team the Devils lost to 1–0 last season. They’ve won eight of their past ten games and their last seven games. Prior to their Saturday matchup against New Jersey, Florida will play the LA Kings and St. Louis Blues.
A week from now, the Devils will take on the Bruins. Injuries, lineups, and building a winning streak are all subject to change during the course of the next seven days. Before hosting the Devils on January 15, the Bruins will start a four-game road trip tonight.
The Devils currently do not have an additional healthy defenseman on their roster.
Head coach Lindy Ruff discussed the impact of Siegenthaler’s injury on his team’s defensive core following his team’s loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
As you can see, at the conclusion of the game, we placed Brendan Smith back there. He remarked, “I believe you’re considering that in the short term. “This guy, Max Willman, will move forward. A brief discussion regarding the roster and our future plans will be held. In the short run, that is essentially how it appears.”
The Devils have experienced hardships throughout the entire season, so it won’t be simple. The team has persevered long enough to be in the running for the playoffs, despite occasionally looking ugly.
The RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House in Newark will host a practice for the Devils on Tuesday, January 9. The media should be updated on Hughes’ condition at that time, as well as whether Ondrej Palat—who has a lower-body injury—can travel with the team.
