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Devils Notebook: Jack Hughes Absent; Goalie Plan Revealed

On Friday, forward Jack Hughes was missing from practice, Sheldon Keefe reveals his goalie plan without Jacob Markstrom, & more.

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New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (86) skates with puck during the second period of the team's NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers in Newark, N.J., Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie)

NEWARK—When the New Jersey Devils hit the ice for practice on Friday, it was expected goaltender Jacob Markstrom would be absent. What wasn’t expected was Jack Hughes’ absence.



Markstrom has been ruled out for 4–6 weeks with an MCL sprain. He’s unlikely to play for Team Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off, but it’s otherwise good news in New Jersey.

Jack Hughes, however, was absent on Friday, related to a finger injury.

At the start of the second period in Wednesday’s 5-1 victory, Hughes was missing at the start of the period. It was revealed he needed stitches in a finger, and returned to the game shortly after the start of the middle frame.

The Devils received the day off on Thursday to maintain an illness going around the room.

Mission accomplished, as only Hughes and Markstrom were absent from practice.

Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe explained Hughes got the extra off day was to stave off further irritation.

“We expect him to be available tomorrow. It’s just the fingers swelling up pretty good from the cut he had the other day,” Keefe explained. “Not to mention, probably more significantly, is the risk of infection and things like that, just putting your hand in the glove and stuff. So just another day off the ice reduces those chances. We expect him to skate tomorrow and be ready to play.”

Goalie Plan Revealed, Poulter’s Recall is Temporary

The Devils recalled goaltender Isaac Poulter from the Utica Comets in Markstrom’s absence.

However, Poulter’s stay in New Jersey is temporary.

The plan, according to Keefe, is to allow Nico Daws to get some extra reps with Utica over the weekend while Jake Allen is expected to start vs. the Montreal Canadiens.

Then, we’ll see Daws and Poulter swap places.

“I think you’ll see Daws come up here. You know, we want to be patient and allow him some time,” Keefe explained. “I think he’ll play for Utica this weekend, and then we’ll look at bringing him here.”

Daws has only played two games with the Comets since Dec. 27th due to an injury. Keefe plans to give Daws some reps at the NHL level, however, wants to give Daws the chance this weekend with games on the schedule for Utica to play more.

Returnees

The Devils got both Ondrej Palat (illness) and Erik Haula (ankle) back practicing with the team on Friday morning.

Haula still won’t play this weekend, but he stood as a placeholder in line drills for Hughes between Palat and Paul Cotter.

Palat will be available against Montreal this weekend, and Keefe explained that at least for now, there’s no further illness concern.

Santeri Hatakka continued to skate with the team, however, still doesn’t have a timeline to return.

Devils Lines

Forwards

Ondrej Palat–Erik Haula*–Paul Cotter

Stefan Noesen–Nico Hischier–Jesper Bratt

Timo Meier–Justin Dowling–Dawson Mercer

Tomas Tatar–Curtis Lazar–Nathan Bastian

Defensemen

Brenden Dillon–Dougie Hamilton

Jonas Siegenthaler–Johnathan Kovacevic

Luke Hughes–Brett Pesce

Santeri Hatakka–Kurtis MacDermid

Goaltenders

Jake Allen

Isaac Poulter

*Placeholder for Jack Hughes

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