Devils Superstar Jack Hughes Injured Finger In Freak Team Dinner Accident

The New Jersey Devils are in the midst of a strong season, but they just hit a massive speed bump with news that star forward Jack Hughes will be out of the lineup for a couple of months or so.

The reason? An incident at a team dinner.

According to Sportsnet, Hughes and the Devils were having a team dinner on Thursday night, when he is reported to have cut his hand in what was described as a "fluke accident."

Hughes was quickly ruled out of Saturday's game against the Washington Capitals after the news of his injury initially broke on Friday. However, on Friday, the Devils announced that Hughes had undergone surgery on his finger and will be out for significantly longer than a lot of people expected.

"New Jersey Devils C Jack Hughes underwent successful surgery on his finger," the Devils' statement reads. "The procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Hotchkiss at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. The expected return to play timeline is eight weeks, and he will be re-evaluated at the six-week mark."

Man, here's to a speedy recovery for Hughes after such a strange incident. 

Now, Hughes has dealt with injuries before (not quite like this one), so the Devils have played without him in the past. Still, he's a massive piece of the puzzle, and they'll certainly miss him over the next couple of months.

This time frame also got me thinking about the Olympics.

Hughes is pretty much a shoo-in to crack the Team USA roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, but somewhat surprisingly, he wasn't among the first six players selected (his brother, Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, was).

Tou figure and eight-week timeline should put him back in action — barring any setbacks — in mid-January, which should be plenty of time to get back to normal before the men's tournament begins on February 11.