Devils' Luke Hughes Surging at the Perfect Time

Luke Hughes has been playing some of his best hockey at the perfect time for the New Jersey Devils.

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Unfortunately, the New Jersey Devils have gotten unlucky with injuries again. Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler are all out for the remainder of the regular season, at a minimum (though maybe not in Hamilton's case).

We've talked about who's stepped up in Hughes' absence. Jesper Bratt has picked up the slack, Timo Meier is scoring more often, and Nico Hischier had a hat trick a few days ago. But to change it up, let's talk about who's stepping up on defense.

Losing Siegenthaler and Hamilton stings, but Luke Hughes is having another late-season surge in their absences. He has 13 points in 13 games since Hamilton's injury and is giving the Devils much-needed offense from the back end.

Hughes Getting Hot at the Right Time

The Devils don't have the mobility and puck-moving ability they had on their back end during the 2022-23 season. Aside from Hughes and Hamilton, there's not much offensive ability on the blue line. Brett Pesce can move the puck efficiently, but no one will mistake him for an offensive defenseman.

That's why an injury to Hamilton could have been devastating. He's still, without a doubt, the Devils' best offensive defenseman. But Hughes has stepped up in his absence, and not just at five-on-five.

Six of Hughes' 13 points since Hamilton's injury have come on the power play. The Devils' power play is operating at a 31.4 percent clip since Jack Hughes' injury and just under 29 percent since Hamilton got hurt.

Hughes has shown improvement as a power-play quarterback compared to last season. He's getting shots through traffic, but more importantly, he's making good decisions with the puck. His ability to walk the blue line and use his skating to his advantage makes it difficult for opposing penalty killers to defend.

That's an area where Hughes has an advantage over Hamilton. While Hamilton has the shot, he doesn't have Hughes' skating ability, so he adds a different dimension to the first power-play unit.

However, Hughes hasn't just been a power-play merchant since Hamilton's injury. His five-on-five numbers don't look great — he has a 41.44 expected goals percentage (xG%) since Hamilton got hurt — but Sheldon Keefe has changed his usage quite a bit.