The New Jersey Devils will have yet another injury on the season as defenseman Luke Hughes left midway through the game on Monday night against the Calgary Flames. It was a game the Devils won 2-1 over the Flames in overtime thanks to a Simon Nemec goal.
While everyone was happy for Nemec, the major concern was about Luke Hughes suffering yet another injury. As for his timeline, the expectation from head coach Sheldon Keefe following the game was that the Devils defenseman would miss some time as he is further evaluated.
“Get evaluated, but he is gonna miss time,” Keefe said post-game. “Won’t play the rest of the road trip, but he is being evaluated to see the extent of time he will miss.”
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The Devils held an optional skate on Tuesday ahead of their game against the Edmonton Oilers that night. Keefe reiterated his comments from Monday night, stating that Luke Hughes is still being evaluated, and it will take a bit before the club knows the extent of the injury.
Early word, according to Frank Seravalli, is that Luke Hughes suffered a dislocated right shoulder.
Sounds like initial diagnosis was #njdevils Luke Hughes dislocated his shoulder tonight in Calgary.
Will await word from Devils postgame and potential timeline as he continues to be evaluated.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 20, 2026
Here are a couple of angles of the injury in what can only be called a weird sequence of events for the Devils defenseman. Again this isn’t the first weird injury of the season.
Luke Hughes injury last night? pic.twitter.com/2uXhUjUBzn
— Everything Hockey (@EHClothing) January 20, 2026
And that’s another shoulder injury for Luke pic.twitter.com/i4wqy7pTWo
— Bryan Mac (@Bryan_Mac11) January 20, 2026
If Luke Hughes did suffer another shoulder injury, again, the Devils have yet to confirm anything, and that would be the third one over the last two seasons. Remember, Luke Hughes missed the first 11 games of last season after injuring his shoulder during off-season training. He then had to undergo shoulder surgery on the same shoulder he injured in offseason training, after being injured in Round 1, Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
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It has been a tough season for the New Jersey Devils and Luke Hughes. He was booed in the game earlier in the month against those same Hurricanes after two own-goals. Recently, his turnover in the neutral zone led to the Hurricanes gaining momentum in a 4-1 win over the Devils this past Saturday night.
While he has been taking on more this season, his absence from training camp is affecting his play. He missed training camp for the second straight year, this time over a contract dispute. The Devils and Hughes finally settled on a seven-year deal worth $63 million with an annual average value of $9 million. On the season, Luke Hughes has recorded 26 points (5 goals, 21 assists) in 49 games.
The New Jersey Devils wait on the diagnosis of Luke Hughes, as this could affect how GM Tom Fitzgerald handles defenseman Dougie Hamilton moving forward.
