Luke Hughes, Brett Pesce Returning to Devils’ Lineup
The New Jersey Devils are set to receive a huge boost on the back end, with defencemen Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce expected to make their season debuts Thursday.
Neither player has appeared in a game thus far due to injury, but they each skated as full participants in Wednesday’s practice. Head coach Sheldon Keefe revealed both would travel with the team to Detroit and later confirmed they’ll suit up Thursday against the Red Wings.
Hughes has been sidelined since training camp after suffering a left shoulder injury. Pesce, who signed a six-year, $33-million contract as a free agent over the summer, underwent off-season surgery to repair a fractured fibula.
Prior to Thursday’s morning skate at Little Caesars Arena, there was a major question mark as to whether the duo would take the ice versus Detroit, with Keefe wanting to see how each responded following Wednesday’s practice before committing to their returns.
The Devils head coach admitted both defencemen were likely to draw this week, saying the second half of their back-to-back on Friday against the New York Islanders was also a potential landing spot.
“They will travel with us [to Detroit], but we haven’t made a determination,” Keefe told reporters following Wednesday’s practice. “I would think it’s fair to say at this point that we would see them this weekend, in one of our games, be it in Detroit or against the Islanders. We’ll see how they respond to practice today, how they get through it tomorrow, and we’ll make a decision on what’s best with them.
“We’ve got a busy schedule upcoming, so we’ve got to make sure we manage them appropriately and monitor where they’re at.”
Luke Hughes, the younger brother of Jack and Quinn, is coming off a breakout season with the Devils. The 21-year-old posted nine goals and 47 points while averaging 21:28 minutes per night across all 82 regular-season contests, finishing third in Calder Trophy voting behind Brock Faber and Connor Bedard, who won the award.
The Manchester, New Hampshire, native – selected as the fourth-overall pick in 2021 – will likely join Dougie Hamilton on New Jersey’s top defensive pairing upon his return.
Pesce, entering his 10th NHL season, is donning a new logo for the first time in his career after spending the last nine campaigns with the Carolina Hurricanes. He logged 627 career games with his former club, tallying 39 goals and 198 points, averaging 21:05 minutes per contest.
The 29-year-old blueliner, who’ll turn 30 next month, owns five seasons of playoff experience, including 57 career postseason games. During that span, he’s scored five goals and 21 points, appearing in a pair of Eastern Conference Final series in 2019 and ‘23.
Despite dropping their previous two games, the Devils enter Thursday’s slate at 5-3-1 with 11 points, tied with the New York Rangers for most in the East thus far. That’s with the team currently ranked 16th in goals allowed per game at 3.11.
New Jersey, scheduled for three games in four nights from Thursday to Sunday, has played more than any other team after beginning this season in Czechia as part of the league’s Global Series.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.