He has scored 33 goals in 49 games leading into this weekend’s All-Star festivities. That’s good, but it might not be a number that would grab your imagination considering Jack Hughes is tied for fifth in NHL goal-scoring.
Fifteen goals in the Devils’ past 14 games is more of an attention-grabber, so indeed are the 26 goals Hughes has recorded in 29 games since Thanksgiving.
But even these stats don’t quite tell the story of how special of a season the 21-year-old Hughes is having across the Hudson for the NHL’s most pleasantly surprising team — and yes, they have earned that designation ahead of the second-year Kraken.
No. 86’s world-class skill, creativity and drive have catapulted him into the Hart Trophy conversation that had been a one-line sentence about Connor McDavid and only Connor McDavid before Hughes elevated his game and production week by week by week.
Any night you watch him is a night when there’s a better than 50-50 chance you’ll see something for the first time, like the impossible pass that set up Dougie Hamilton for the overtime winner against Vegas on Jan. 24. If you haven’t caught it, YouTube it immediately and thank me later.
And he has been at the forefront of his team’s 8-1-1 snapback following a 3-8-2 slide to provide the Devils with a 12-point playoff cushion after having failed to get an invite to the ball nine times in the past 10 years.
Is that enough to pique your interest? Not really? Not sexy enough?
Well, then how about this? If we appropriate Newark to become part of NHL New York, just as we do with East Rutherford to represent NFL New York, then Jack Hughes is having the best season of any 21-and-under athlete on a New York team since Doc Gooden in 1985.
Before that, Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy in 1977-78; Denis Potvin in 1974-75; and before that, well, that would be Mickey Mantle in 1953.
Derek Jeter was playing at Triple-A Columbus when he turned 21 in 1995. Lawrence Taylor played his senior season at North Carolina at age 21. Mariano Rivera was a starting pitcher at age 21 for Greensboro of the Class-A Sally League. Patrick Ewing was a junior at Georgetown for his age-21 season.
Gooden was 20 for his historic 1985 sophomore season in which he went 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA and led the majors in strikeouts. Trottier was 21 when he racked up 46 goals, 77 assists, 123 points and finished second for the Hart. Bossy was 21 when he established the rookie record for goals, with 53.
Potvin was 21 when he made the NHL first all-star team and finished second for the Norris. Mantle was 21 in his third season for the Yankees in which he posted a .295/.398/.497 slash line with 21 homers, 92 RBIs and an OPS+ of 145.
Seven decades.
Gooden. Trottier. Bossy. Potvin. Mantle.
Hughes.
Not. Too. Shabby.
If the Devils can maneuver around their cap situation that has been exacerbated by the need to dip into their LTI reserve, yes, they surely have the assets that could net pending unrestricted free agent winger Timo Meier from a San Jose team that’s on the ground floor of their rebuild.
But it wouldn’t seem possible that the Devils could have both Meir and Jesper Bratt on the roster next season unless the team transforms to a Toronto- or Rangers-type model that would feature multiple players above the $7.5 million AAV threshold.
The 26-year-old Meier, who is due a $10 million qualifying offer, is likely going to command a multi-year deal at a minimum of $8.5 million per. Bratt, who will turn 25 in July, is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights coming off a one-year contract worth $5.45 million. He is also one year away from hitting the open market.
So, it would seem that Bratt — the 162d-overall selection of the 2016 draft who has 50 points (19-31) in 49 games this season and 123 points (45-78) in 125 games the past two years — is in line for a multi-year deal that starts with an “8.”
Hughes is at $8 million per through 2029-30. Hamilton is in at $9 million per through 2027-29. Nico Hischier is at $7.25 million through 2026-27. Can the Devils, who have just five forwards, four defensemen and one goaltender signed for next season, accommodate both Bratt and Meier? If not, which winger would they choose?
Would GM Tom Fitzgerald and executive VP of hockey ops Martin Brodeur be willing to go all-in on a rental for Meier? Do they think the Devils are close enough that a pricey reinforcement or two could put them over the top in a matchup with Boston, Carolina, Toronto or Tampa Bay?
The Devils, much like the Rangers (whom they could conceivably meet in the first round), need to bulk up for the tournament. If they’re looking for championship experience, the Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly are intriguing rentals.
If they are looking for snarl on the back end, Radko Gudas is an interesting one if the Panthers become sellers. Marc Staal might be in play — though the Blueshirts might have an interest in a reunion with No. 18.
Then, too, the Devils are likely adding Michigan defenseman Luke Hughes, the fourth-overall selection in 2021, when his season ends. The Wolverines are ranked sixth in the country. The NCAA Frozen Four will be contested April 6-8, after which the Devils have two games remaining in the season.
Newsflash: Lou Lamoriello, who jumped the market to get Bo Horvat the way the GM jumped the market to bring Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey in 2010, is not particularly worried about two or three years from now. For the Islanders, eighth place this year is as good as first place. In that context, there is no debate: Home run acquisition.
The NHL and ESPN, they’re just all in on this queasy, stomach-turning sellout to Alex Ovechkin, aren’t they, perhaps having already make the calculation that people just don’t care?
