NEWARK, N.J. -Devils forward Jack Hughes will return to the lineup for New Jersey when the club hosts the San Jose Sharks Tuesday night at Prudential Center.
"Jack is ready to go. He will play tonight," head coach Lindy Ruff said.
Hughes, 20, hasn't played since dislocating his left shoulder in the second game of the season against Seattle Oct. 19.
"It's obviously extremely exciting. It's been a long time," said Hughes, who missed 17 games due to the injury. "I'm excited to get back out there. To start at home and play in front of our fans will be a lot of fun."
Hughes had an electric start to the season, posting two goals and three points in four periods of play, which included a dramatic overtime-winning tally against Chicago in the season opener.
"I started hot, but now I've got 65 games to get hot again," said Hughes, who could see time at wing tonight. "I've got a lot of runway left. It's fortunate it was only a 17-game thing, it could have been much worse."
Hughes, the No. 1-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, isn't setting high expectations on himself for the return. He's taken a more grounded approach.
"I don't know what to expect," Hughes said. "It's going to take me a period or two to get back to it. I don't know if the fans are expecting something outrageous tonight. I'm going to play smart and find my way back into the game, take it easy and play my game. … I'll take it one period at a time tonight."
Hughes, who suffered the injury after colliding into the boards with Seattle's Jeremy Lauzon, was projected on Oct. 29 by the team to be roughly five weeks from returning, which would have been next week. However, Hughes approached Ruff a few days ago.
"I knew Jack was bugging me a week ago to play that we were getting pretty close," Ruff said. "We looked at the schedule and wanted to get X amount of practices in with him. We were able to do that. We figured the date would be today. It wasn't etched in stone, but thought if things progress and he gets those practices in, today would be the day."
"I had this date circled on my calendar," Hughes said. "I think I got in sooner than people thought."
