NHL Trade Deadline
How Jack Hughes’ 4 Nations Deployment Could Impact Devils Trade Deadline
Skating alongside two shooters for Team USA, general manager Tom Fitzgerald could find motivation for a Devils trade to acquire one for Jack Hughes in New Jersey.
Over the last few days, we’ve gotten a glimpse of Jack Hughes donning colors that represent the United States of America. The New Jersey Devils’ superstar forward was selected for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Not only is he playing in the best-on-best tournament, but Hughes is on the first line of what many argue is the favorite team to win the tournament. Depending on how the tournament goes for Hughes, his deployment could have an impact on the Devils’ trade deadline.
READ MORE: Devils Jack Hughes Gets His Wish; Team USA 4 Nations Linemates Revealed
As the assistant general manager of Team USA, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald will get a first-hand look at something Hughes hasn’t worked with since last season.
Hughes is skating on a line with both Auston Matthews and Jake Guentzel. The difference between his linemates on Team USA and the Devils is that he’s currently working with two shooters for the tournament.
Make no mistake, Hughes skates with the elite Jesper Bratt in New Jersey. They’re a duo that’s been coined “peanut butter and jelly” for how well they play together.
Yet, they’re rounded out by Ondrej Palat, who is probably the depth piece they’re looking for, but he skates on the Devils’ top line.
Simply, Jack Hughes’ performance next to Matthews and Guentzel could be the deciding factor in Fitzgerald going to the NHL trade market to find a scorer.
Now, obviously Hughes is playing on a team that is full of elites. Therefore, if he shows out, there’s certainly the factor that he’s among American all stars.
However, the Devils are a supremely skilled group, who are just missing a piece or two to the puzzle.
Fitzgerald said plainly he’d like to go out and acquire some depth in a Devils trade. Preferably a third-line center, and they’ve long been linked to Jake Evans. The Devils can certainly use someone like Evans too, in order to strengthen the bottom-six who has struggled to score.
That doesn’t absolve the top-six, however. Amid a tough stretch of games since returning from the holiday break, the scoring woes have made its way up and down the lineup, coming through in far too few moments.
There is also the factor that although Hughes is scoring at over a point per-game pace, he’s not necessarily playing to his full potential.
Perhaps that’s the Devils star is overcompensating in the wake of scoring struggles. But, the fact remains that there is another level to Hughes we just haven’t seen this season. Yet, it’s certainly been present in the past.
You don’t have to imagine what success looks like with a shooter on Hughes’ line.
Last season, Jack primarily skated alongside Tyler Toffoli, a player that Fitzgerald has not replaced since moving him at the 2024 NHL trade deadline.
Of Toffoli’s 26 goals with the Devils, Hughes assisted on half of them (13). 50% of Toffoli’s goal production came as a result of Hughes’ distributing ability, which had Hughes in the early portions of the season on pace to shatter his own career highs. That was before his injury, of course.
Some might point to Timo Meier as the player many thought would be the goalscorer to compliment Hughes. However, he’s meshed better with his countryman, Nico Hischier. Meier is too similar to Hughes in the sense that they both command the puck and drive play.
Instead, Hughes benefitted from a player like Toffoli who knew where to be when the Devils star had the puck, and cashed in on his distributing ability.
The Devils lack a natural shooter at both 5-on-5 and on special teams. Inserting that cog into the machine could certainly make the whole thing finally click. And it’s not like there aren’t shooters available on the market, with names such as Jared McCann and Kyle Palmieri floating around on the rumor mill.
New Jersey needs a complimentary goalscorer, preferably on Jack Hughes’ wing and definitely in the top-six. If Hughes shows out on a line that has two of them at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Fitzgerald will certainly take note for a potential Devils trade.
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