Devils captain Nico Hischier makes his feelings known about serious Jack Hughes injury following Jack Eichel collision

New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier expressed his thoughts on the injury star center Jack Hughes sustained in the game against the Vegas Golden Knights last Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.

The entire crowd in attendance went silent after the hard collision between Hughes and Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, leading Hughes to slam into the boards shoulder-first.

Here’s a look at the injury:

The situation prompted Hischier to say this about Jack Hughes, as quoted by Devils beat reporter Amanda Stein:

“It was for sure scary(...)It was definitely a tough one. We were all a bit shocked. But talking to each other helps calm each other down.”

Beyond losing a talented player for an undetermined amount of time, the nature of the injury raises concerns about Hughes’ well-being. While there is still no word on the nature of the injury or how long he may be out, Hischier has his priorities in order. He stated:

“Trying to focus on playing for these guys who would love to be here and play in important games."

As the Devils head down the final stretch of the season and likely into the playoffs, Hischier and his team would like nothing more than to play well into the spring and hopefully give Hughes a chance to return in time for the Conference or Stanley Cup Final.

Renowned sports physician speculates about Jack Hughes's injury

Renowned sports physician Harjas Grewal took to X to post an analysis of Jack Hughes’s potential injury. It’s key to point out that there is no official word on what Hughes’s injury is and how long he could be out.

Nevertheless, Grewal speculated that:

“Purely from a mechanism stand point, would anticipate a collarbone related injury (either a separated shoulder or broken collarbone) but considering Hughes’ history + how he holds his arm after, my concern is a dislocated shoulder.”

While a shoulder dislocation would be more serious than a broken collarbone, given Hughes’s injury history, either situation could be damning for the Devils’ playoff chances this season.

Grewal added the following assessment on recovery, alluding to a potential timeline for Hughes’s return to the lineup:

“As far as I know, this is his first time dislocating his right shoulder and so odds are he could start with a period of immobility (usually 3 weeks) and then rehab before returning.”

However, things could get much worse for Hughes under the following circumstances:

“If he has to get surgery, it’s a 4-6+ month recovery.”

Lastly, Grewal believes that if surgery is needed to repair the damage, the prognosis could be much longer. In the worst-case scenario, Jack Hughes could be done for the season and could look forward to training camp in the fall.

It remains to be seen what results emerge from testing as the Devils organization and fans hope the injury is nowhere near as serious as it looked on the replay.