The New Jersey Devils are getting close to having two defensemen, Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce, in the lineup. Both players have been skating with the main group at practice and the morning skate. While they are still skating as extras, it is a good sign that they are skating. However, head coach Sheldon Keefe gave the first significant update on their status after practice on Monday.
“Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce won’t play tomorrow, but their return is imminent,” Keefe told the attending media.
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Before Keefe met with the media, the New Jersey Devils sent rookie defenseman Seamus Casey to the AHL Utica Comets. This had nothing to do with Pesce or Luke Hughes coming back. The team felt he needed to work on his game down in the AHL, and the NHL schedule was catching up with him.
Luke Hughes has been out of the lineup with a left shoulder injury. He did not play in any preseason games or participate in training camp. When the Devils went to Czechia to open the season, Luke did not make the trip. There is a mystery surrounding how he got injured. The Devils say he injured his shoulder while weightlifting; some speculate that he got hurt outside the gym and rink.
Hughes’s timeline right before the Devils opened training camp was six to eight weeks. That was at the start of September. Again, nobody knows when the injury took place. That tracks to about an early November return to the lineup. Again, the Devils do not need to rush him back. If the Devils feel necessary, Luke Hughes could take a conditioning stint in the AHL.
Pesce, meanwhile, had off-season surgery to repair a fractured fibula from last season. That injury caused Pesce to miss part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs when he was a member of the Carolina Hurricanes. The Devils signed Pesce to a six-year contract worth $33,000,000 with an annual average value of $5,500,000 on Day 1 of Free Agency. Once the Devils traded defenseman John Marino to the Utah Hockey Club, this solidified Pesce’s signing with the Devils.
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Now, Pesce should have been in the lineup already. Again, this all depends on who you talk to. Like Hughes, Pesce was not ready to make the trip to Czechia to open the season. However, there was talk of him being in the opening night lineup when the team returned to North America. That did not happen. While he was week to week, there was talk he was progressing nicely and could be ready to begin the season.
Then things went silent on Pesce and he was not skating for a little bit. Though he was spotted on the practice rink last Monday, many wondered if Brett Pesce had a setback. Again, depending on who you speak with, you get various answers. A source close to DevilsNation.com said “that he (Pesce) had a minor setback, but he could be ready in a couple of days or weeks.”
It appears that Pesce is inching closer to a return. His presence and Luke Hughes’s will allow the Devils to reinforce a defensive corps that is playing way beyond its limits to start the season. While the top guys, Dougie Hamilton, Brenden Dillon, and Jonas Siegenthaler, have been excellent, Jonathan Kovacevic was supposed to be a seventh defenseman but is playing above and beyond expectations.
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Simon Nemec is once again taking on more minutes than he should. However, his ice time is slowly coming down. While Nemec has been better lately, the sophomore has struggled this season. Seamus Casey filled in admirably. Daniil Misyul will help while Pesce and Hughes continue to work back toward the lineup. It is not a matter of if anymore for Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes, but more of when. When do the New Jersey Devils management, medical staff, and coaches think they should return to the lineup?
Once they do, the Devils will be at full strength, except for defenseman Santeri Hatakka, who underwent successful shoulder surgery. But for the most part, the New Jersey Devils are ready to have their full lineup hit the ice. Now it becomes who goes down next?
