Devils place C Jack Hughes on injured reserve with shoulder dislocation

New Jersey Devils C Jack Hughes was placed on injured reserve on Thursday morning after suffering a dislocated shoulder in Tuesday night’s win over the Seattle Kraken. Hughes was forced to leave the game late in the first period and did not return. He was checked into the boards by Kraken D Jeremy Lauzon. Hughes will be re-evaluated in one week and won’t require surgery for the injury.

Fantasy hockey impact

With Hughes sidelined, the Devils will be missing their top play-maker and first-line center. That’s a pretty big blow but New Jersey has a few options to replace Hughes. We could see rookie Dawson Mercer promoted to the top line. He scored his first NHL goal on Tuesday and has looked great throughout camp and preseason. Pavel Zacha, who has been skating on the left wing early in the season, could be shifted to center, his old position.

Mercer is readily available in most season-long fantasy hockey leagues. He’s 1% owned on Yahoo and has two points through two games. Zacha is 8% owned on Yahoo and also has two points in two games. Both are decent internal replacements for Hughes and we’ll see how the lines shake out prior to Thursday night’s game vs. the Washington Capitals.