New Jersey Devils star center Jack Hughes is done for the season.
With a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday and the New York Islanders’ win over the New York Rangers, the Devils have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Now, the team’s focus can turn to getting their 22-year-old All-Star healthy in time for the 2024-25 season.
Just hours after Devils interim coach Travis Green said Hughes was going to miss the team’s April 9 game against the Maple Leafs with an upper-body injury, the team issued the following statement:
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.
He will undergo the surgery on April 10, which will be performed by Dr. Peter Millett in Vail, Colorado.
Hughes is expected to make a full recovery to be available for 2024 New Jersey Devils Training Camp.
Hughes, a Florida native who grew up in Ontario and currently plays in New Jersey, went all the way to Colorado for the procedure for a very specific reason – the surgeon who would be performing it.
Who is Dr. Peter Millett?
Millett is an internationally recognized orthopedic surgeon who specializes in disorders of the shoulder, knee, elbow and all sports-related injuries. A partner at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, his primary areas of focus include complex shoulder disorders, arthroscopic surgery, fracture surgery, and total joint replacement.
Millett is known for pioneering the CAM (Comprehensive Arthroscopic Management) procedure, “an advanced arthroscopic shoulder surgery for treating osteoarthritis that has been clinically shown to decrease pain and improve joint function.” The procedure helps young, active patients preserve their joints with the ultimate goal of delaying or avoiding shoulder replacement surgery.
While the specifics of the surgery to be performed on Hughes remain unknown at this time, Millett is one of the nation’s premier shoulder specialists in the field of sports medicine.
Millett’s Extensive Patient List Includes Several Elite Professional Athletes
As a shoulder and sports medicine specialist, Millett has treated elite athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA, Formula One, X-Games and the Olympics.
In 2020, Millett performed shoulder stabilization surgery on Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield, a former first-round draft pick who was Hughes’ teammate on the USA Hockey National Team Development Program from 2017-2019.
GettyCole Caufield, Montreal Canadiens
In Caufield’s case, he had suffered two hard falls which contributed to his shoulder problems, including a dislocation and further instability. Hughes met a similar fate this year, sustaining an upper-body injury in the Devils’ Jan. 5 game against the Chicago Blackhawks that sidelined him until Feb. 8, only to re-injure himself in an April 7 game against the Nashville Predators.
According to The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman, Millett’s other NHL patients include Florida Panthers winger Vladimir Tarasenko, Canadiens winger Josh Anderson, Seattle Kraken center Yanni Gourde, Maple Leafs center Max Domi, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Erik Johnson and Vancouver Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov. Last month alone, Millett performed surgery on Columbus Blue Jackets center Kent Johnson and Ottawa Senators center Josh Norris.