Devils Sheldon Keefe Dishes High Praise to Luke Hughes, But…

If you haven’t caught on by now, New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe’s thing is honesty and transparency. Perhaps that’s what’s helped the Devils through their first 20 games hold down first place in the Metropolitan Division, despite not firing on all cylinders until recently. Keefe was at it again on Thursday following an impressive victory over the Florida Panthers, in which Luke Hughes had a strong showing. Yet, after he praised the Devils defender, he explained something’s still missing.

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Hughes got a late start to the 2024-25 season after offseason shoulder surgery held him (and Brett Pesce) out for nine games. Upon his return, Hughes has been strong on the defensive side of the puck, showing vast improvement alongside his new D-partner in Pesce.

Thursday night was no different. Hughes’ plus skating ability allows him to cover a lot of ground like a blanket. Therefore, he can pressure puck carries coming over the blue line to try to keep them to perimeter chances. Yet, he can recover when necessary to put himself back in defensive positioning.

Speaking of his positioning, Hughes has displayed a smarter sense of structure in the defensive end of the ice. His active stick has not only broken up passing and shooting lanes, but he’s made a handful of impressive, clean interceptions to start rushes to the other end of the ice.

By no means has Hughes’ performance defensively been a surprise to the Devils’ head coach.

“My expectations have always been high, so for me, he’s been meeting them,” Sheldon Keefe started. “He’s a young defenseman. He’s going to continue to get better, but this is a guy who is 6-foot-2, over 200 pounds, and he’s in the top 1% of the league in skating. So he’s got every asset you need to be able to be an elite defender.”

Up against the Florida Panthers on Thursday, Hughes had perhaps his strongest game yet. He faced tough assignments alongside Pesce, whether it was defending the Sasha Barkov or Matthew Tkachuk line, and he flourished in that opportunity.

So what’s missing?

Hughes helped kick-start Thursday night’s victory over the reigning Stanley Cup Champions. The 21-year-old defender did an excellent job walking the blue line, found a shooting lane, got the puck through, and created the rebound opportunity for Stefan Noesen to cash in on.

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However, the assist to open the scoring was just his second point—both of which have been assists—in 11 contests. Through 73 games (accounting for the time he missed), the Devils’ defenseman is on pace for 13 points.

Compared to his rookie season, the offensive projection is far below what Hughes provided in 2023-24. We’re talking about a near 50-point defenseman who was a finalist for the Calder Trophy.

Keefe knows there is more to give.

“First and foremost, we want him to be really good [defensively], but I think we know he’s got a lot to add offensively,” Keefe concluded. “We’ve been wanting him to really tap into that as well. I think he’s been really kind of finding that balance early and probably playing a little bit more conservative. I don’t want to play conservative, I want to be aggressive. But he’s trying to find his way. It’s not easy coming in with no training camp, no pre-season, a new coach, new system, new structure and new expectations. But to me, he’s managed it very well, and he’s continuing to get better and better every game.”

The good news is Hughes’ positive 78-66 scoring chance differential and 53.57 xGF% suggest it’s coming.

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