![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766342947_43_wyshynski_greg.png&h=80&w=80&scale=crop.png\")
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Greg WyshynskiDec 21, 2025, 12:50 PM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.<\/p>\n New Jersey Devils<\/a> star Jack Hughes<\/a>, out since Nov. 12 with a “freak” hand injury, will return to the lineup against the Buffalo Sabres<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n Hughes, 24, injured his hand at a team dinner<\/a> in Chicago on Nov. 13, underwent surgery on his finger and was given a recovery window of eight weeks. He has been skating throughout his rehab and was recently spotting using a stick again on the ice.<\/p>\n He returned to Devils practice Sunday at an optional skate.<\/p>\n “Yeah, I’m going to play tonight. Might as well ease my way in,” Hughes joked after practice.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n Both Hughes and the Devils were off to flying starts before his injury. New Jersey was 12-4-1, with the second-best points percentage (.735) in the NHL behind the Colorado Avalanche<\/a> (.794) and first place in the Metropolitan Division. Hughes had 20 points in his first 17 games, including 10 goals.<\/p>\n The Devils struggled without their top-line center, going 8-10-0 (.444) and scoring 3.35 goals per game with Hughes to 2.28 goals per game without him. But they have remained in the playoff race in a competitive Eastern Conference, holding the final wild-card spot entering Sunday.<\/p>\n Hughes is one of three key players returning to the Devils’ lineup Sunday against surging Buffalo, which has won five straight games. Forward Timo Meier<\/a> last played Dec. 9, having taken leave from the team for a family matter. He has 11 goals and 12 assists in 30 games. Forward Arseny Gritsyuk<\/a> has missed the past four games due to injury. The rookie has 16 points in 31 games.<\/p>\n “To come back from the road trip and to have those guys in the building and then on the ice, it gives the [team] a boost,” coach Sheldon Keefe said Sunday. “There’s an emotional impact.”<\/p>\n Keefe said the challenge for his team is not to become suddenly passive because help has arrived.<\/p>\n “We’ve got to keep playing the way we’ve been playing and have those players enhance that,” he said. “Sometimes when you bring important people back to your group, there can be a tendency for the rest of the group to take a back seat. And that cannot happen.”<\/p>\n Sunday was Hughes’ first appearance since the injury and the first time he has faced questions about his brother, star defenseman Quinn Hughes<\/a>, being traded<\/a> to the Minnesota Wild<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n Sources told ESPN that the Vancouver Canucks<\/a> went to the Devils first in discussing trade destinations for Quinn Hughes, as his brothers Jack and Luke<\/a> both play in New Jersey. Ultimately, the Canucks opted to trade Hughes to the Wild for center Marco Rossi<\/a>, forward Liam Ohgren<\/a>, defenseman Zeev Buium<\/a> and a 2026 first-round pick.<\/p>\n “It happened fast,” Jack Hughes said, adding that there was a “little bit” of disappointment that the three brothers weren’t united together. “I think he’s happy in Minnesota now. They have a great team there, and they’re playing well. … We’re happy for him.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Greg WyshynskiDec 21, 2025, 12:50 PM ET CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. New Jersey Devils star…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-362316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}