Latest non-Jack Hughes injury update could have Devils change trade deadline course in record time

When it rains, it pours, I guess. The New Jersey Devils ended the 2024 calendar year as one of the best teams in the NHL in just about any metric. Now, the team has gone 9-11-3 since January 1, and the injuries are piling up.

The team's best defenseman, Jonas Siegenthaler, is currently on LTIR nursing a lower-body injury. The team's best forward, Jack Hughes, was just ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Now, the team's best overall defenseman, Dougie Hamilton, is considered week-to-week with an injury suffered in New Jersey's heartbreaking loss in Dallas on Tuesday, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

The Devils have gone from a team that might've had a shot at winning the Stanley Cup to one that might very well end up missing the playoffs. At 33-24-6, the Devils have 72 points on the season in their 63 games of action.

That point total is good enough for third place in the Metropolitan Division, but they're just four points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for that third-place spot (while Columbus has two games in hand), and they're just six points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers who are tied for the Eastern Conference's final Wild Card spot.

In other words, the Devils are one small losing streak and one winning streak from the Blue Jackets and Rangers from losing their stranglehold on a playoff spot entirely.

Despite the Hughes injury, the Devils are reportedly still planning on being deadline buyers, according to James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. There's reason to believe Hamilton's injury timeline will or at least should impact those plans.

Dougie Hamilton injury update could cause the Devils to shift gears

At this point, the injuries are just cruel. Three of the team's most important players are sidelined with no clear timetable to return. Hamilton hasn't been placed on LTIR as of this writing, but he's still out week-to-week. Often, week-to-week injuries mean a player won't find himself in game action for at least two or three weeks. Well, the Devils only have 19 regular season games remaining, and one of the 13 toughest schedules in the sport down the stretch, according to Tankathon.

There's reason to believe that whatever Stanley Cup aspirations there were with this team are fully gone with Hughes not expected to return. Now, if Hamilton, their best defenseman, is out for a while, why exactly would the Devils still buy?

I understand that it isn't ideal to punt on a season in which the Devils are literally sitting in a playoff spot, but it's important to be realistic. The Devils were having a tough time scoring as is with Hughes and Hamilton, their best point-producing forward and defenseman respectively. How exactly are they going to score enough to win without them? Who will the Devils acquire that will come close to making up for what's sitting in the press box?

The one saving grace here is that the Devils have a substantial amount of money to spend at the trade deadline. Hughes being placed onto LTIR opens up $8 million to spend, and Jonas Siegenthaler being on LTIR opens up another $3.4 million. Adding Dougie Hamilton's $9 million cap hit if he were to land on LTIR would give the Devils around $22.1 million to spend.

They can acquire several players with that kind of money available. Even the money they'd have without Hamilton's $9 million is substantial, but how realistic is it that the Devils will acquire a slew of impactful players knowing that the deadline is less than 48 hours away and they've already traded away their first-round pick for this season?

Selling is the last thing any Devils fan wanted to or expected to hear even a week ago, but at this point, it's really hard to justify buying with Hughes out for the season, Siegenthaler on LTIR, and Hamilton out week-to-week. Doing so, especially by acquiring rentals, would be irresponsible.