The theme of the current era of Devils hockey is "frustration." They have a ton of talent, and where they lack they have moved boldly and decisively to address their holes, but something or other has always gone wrong. One year it might be a lack of goaltending; the next, it might be a rash of injuries to their scorers. Since taking Nico Hischier first overall in 2017, and with six top-10 picks in that span, all New Jersey has to show for its by-the-book rebuild is a single playoff series victory.
This year has been particularly aggravating. The Devils find themselves in the East's middle-of-the-pack mess, and they mostly can't get anything going because they can't score goals. They're tied for fewest in the conference, and over the last month they've played eight games—all losses—in which they've scored either one goal or zero. Jack Hughes recently returned from injury, just in time for a four-game losing streak. Tension is building in Newark, and the last thing the home crowd needed was a target for their broader angsts. Luke Hughes gave them a big fat one.
On Sunday against Carolina, Hughes was basically responsible for two own goals. On the first, when trying to clear a rebound out of his own end, he fired the puck right into his own net. On the second, Taylor Hall's forecheck got Hughes skating backward, putting himself in perfect position for Hall to tap the puck in goal right off his stick. The boos came down, long and hard, and came again anytime Hughes touched the puck for the rest of the period. The game would end 3-1, Hurricanes.
Hughes, the No. 4 overall pick in 2021, entered the league with the weight of his name on his shoulders. His brothers, Quinn and teammate Jack, are stars; Luke, rudely, has been referred to by haters as the family's Thanasis. Luke is no Thanasis or LiAngelo or Brent Gretzky. He's talented. He's athletic. He's the fastest defenseman in the NHL. He does lots of good things, but he doesn't do them often or consistently enough, and when he does show flashes of his capability, it only serves as a reminder of what he could be, but isn't. At age 22 it's nearing the time when a young star ought to be putting it all together, but Hughes is instead having his worst year in this, his third full season. Not helping matters is the seven-year, $63 million contract he signed before the season. The aforementioned haters will tell you the Devils were thinking about enticing Quinn for a full family reunion, but $9 million a year is a lot to swallow. Luke has proved the perfectly frustrating face of a frustrated franchise.
After the game, the Devils went out of their way to come to the defense of their young teammate. Goaltender Jake Allen said Hughes doesn't deserve to be booed. Head coach Sheldon Keefe said, "We just gotta support him internally." Hischier, the team captain, wasn't scheduled to speak to reporters but volunteered to address them, saying the team "fully stands behind" Luke, and telling fans that "booing doesn't help."
Booing doesn't help, but that's like saying an ice storm doesn't help: good luck trying to stop it when the conditions are right. The Devils now hit the road for four games, which will at least obviate the immediate fan-support conundrum. It won't stop the ongoing conversation about Hughes, though, until he plays it away.
