Two things are true right now: Jack Hughes is on a heater and the New Jersey Devils’ penalty kill has been elite – an 85.1% success rate puts them sixth in the NHL. In the wake of some injuries, head coach Sheldon Keefe has not shied away from giving Hughes the extra responsibility of penalty killing action, something he has never previously been granted by any other Devils coach.
Over the last few games, he’s received 4:19 of time on the kill and the early results have been great. The opposition has just two shot attempts in that span – and not one single scoring chance of any variety. In fact, Hughes’ expected goals for percentage (xGF%) on the kill is 85.78%, meaning the Devils have had the bulk of the chances despite being a man down. Small sample beware, but that’s (by far) the highest xGF% among all NHL penalty killers, ahead of Brock Nelson’s 55.30%. (via Natural Stat Trick.)
The Hockey Writers asked Keefe about Hughes’ recent deployment, to which he gave a very insightful response:
“He’s just smart. You know, I’ve seen enough good things five-on-five from Jack in terms of his commitment level defensively…he’s been in every single penalty kill meeting we’ve had right from training camp on through. Obviously with Lazar and Bastian out, we’re missing two penalty killers. There’s more minutes and opportunity there, and more of a need. I think he’s done a good job. He hasn’t been used a lot; it’s situational, quite honestly. If a killer takes a penalty or maybe (Jack) hasn’t had a shift for a while, I want to make sure to get him out there.”
Obviously a 85.78 xGF% is unsustainable on the kill, but the logic is effective. If Keefe could continue to comfortably throw Hughes out there against a second unit, he’s certainly shown the capability to maneuver around tight areas and get the puck where it needs to be. Maybe he’s not the strongest on the puck, but so far, his escapability has rendered that meaningless.
Hughes will likely never be the person who’s throwing his body in front of shots at the point and blocking slapshots, but he doesn’t need to be when deployed with the right unit in the right situation. Especially when a kill is ticking down, he’s the perfect candidate to launch a tape-to-tape spring pass to his teammate coming out of the box, or maybe to move the puck up ice and create an odd-man rush. Former head coach Lindy Ruff similarly deployed Jesper Bratt on the kill last season, and he’s become a mainstay, receiving 104 minutes on the kill since then.
The numbers don’t lie: At even strength, Hughes’ expected goals allowed per 60 minutes (xGA/60) has lowered from 3.37 last season, to 2.43 this season – about a 28% decrease. Keefe has continued to commend his defensive maturity, and the Devils will be much better off because of it.
