While the New Jersey Devils are still a top five team in the league record-wise, the last couple games have been a struggle sans-Jack Hughes.
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In this edition of Devils News & Rumors, we have (potentially) good news on the Devils’ star forward, plus discuss some concern regarding Jacob Markstrom and potential fits to improve the team’s forward depth.
Jack Hughes Back by Christmas!?
Jack suffered a “freak” hand injury on Nov. 13, forcing him to get surgery with an approximately eight-week return to play timeline. However, on a recent edition of ESPN’s “The Point”, insider Emily Kaplan provided a seemingly positive update:
“The good news is this isn’t as bad as initially feared,” said Kaplan. “Best case scenario is we can see him back as early as Christmas, more likely it’s early January.”
Christmas Day would be exactly six weeks from the injury. While that may be too optimistic, even New Year’s would be a welcome sight, as it would still be a week earlier than expected.
Jacob Markstrom Not 100%?
According to team reporter Sam Kasan, goaltender Jacob Markstrom missed the last couple practices because the team had to “monitor something that happened late in 3rd v. TBL”.
While he was considered healthy enough to back up Jake Allen in Florida, Markstrom’s early season numbers have been dreadful: a 3.83 goals against average (GAA) and .864 save percentage (SV%). Most alarmingly, Markstrom — historically one of the best in the league against high danger chances — ranks just 66th out of 75 goalies to play this season with a .750% high danger SV%. (via Natural Stat Trick)
Markstrom previously missed 15 days with a lower-body injury earlier this season. If he’s still nursing something, whether related or not, it would be in the Devils’ best interest to give Allen a majority of the starts.
The good news is Markstrom has gone through similar rough stretches in his career and always bounced back.
Jacob Markstrom has had some difficult stretches since he joined Calgary:
— All About the Jersey (@AATJerseyBlog) November 20, 2025
3/17/21-4/5/21: 1-7-0, 29 GA, .866 SV%
1/26/23-2/28/23: 2-3-3, 27 GA, .856 SV%
3/4/24-4/16/24: 2-8-0, 35 GA, .869 SV%
3/2/25-3/26/25: 2-5-1, 31 GA, .846 SV%
He only had a season SV% under .900 in 22-23.
Trade Deadline Targets?
With all the injuries, some are wondering how proactive general manager Tom Fitzgerald will be when it comes to making a move. Tons of names have been floated around.
Calgary’s Blake Coleman was pitched as a fit by Dave Pagnotta on Daily Faceoff Rundown: Insider Edition. On the Tri-State Hockey Podcast, Arthur Staple said New York Islanders forward J.G. Pageau would similarly be a great fit.
Per RG, the Devils pushed for Nashville’s Ryan O’Reilly at last year’s deadline but the asking price was way too high. On the Game Nashville Sports Network, insider Elliotte Friedman confirmed that the Devils still had interest:
“I believe that a team like New Jersey would covet a player like [Ryan] O’Reilly. He’s a player that they have had some interest in for a long time,” said Friedman.
O’Reilly has 13 points in 20 games this season and has scored 50+ points in 11 of his last 12 seasons. He’d be the ideal third-line center for the Devils, instantly propelling them towards contender status (if they’re at least close to healthy).
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