The New Jersey Devils are five points out of a playoff spot, but they'll be without one of their leading scorers for the final four games.
The New Jersey Devils announced center Jack Hughes will miss the rest of the regular season.
Hughes is scheduled to undergo shoulder surgery on Wednesday in Colorado and is expected to make a full recovery by training camp next season.
"In recent conversations with Jack, his family and representatives, the Devils’ athlete care staff, and Devils’ chief medical officer Dr. Jonathan L. Glashow, it was determined that Jack should be held out of game action for the rest of this season and proceed with shoulder surgery," the Devils said in a statement.
Hughes, 22, averages more points per game than anyone else on the Devils, with 1.19. He ranks 13th in the NHL in that regard. He also leads the team in goals (27) and is second in assists (47) and points (74) despite playing 62 of the team's 78 games to date.
Earlier in the season, Hughes missed time for most of January after taking an awkward fall into the boards and suffering an upper-body injury on Jan. 5. He was also injured in November after a separate instance of falling into the boards and missed part of the month.
The Devils currently rank seventh in the NHL's Metropolitan Division and are five points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers sit ahead of the Devils in the standings in the chase for the Red Wings and New York Islanders for the final two spots available in the East.
Moneypuck.com lists the Devils' odds of making the playoffs at 0.3 percent.
Hughes finished with his second-highest single-season points total following a career-high 99 in 78 games in 2022-23. In 306 career regular-season games, the 2019 first overall pick has 114 goals and 167 assists for 281 points. He also recorded six goals and 11 points in 12 games in last year's playoffs.