Jack Hughes
Jack Hughes is the center between Jesper Bratt and Arseny Gritsyuk and runs the first power play, and the main unknown for the rest of the season is whether his 14 games last season repeat.
Role
Daily Faceoff's Devils page, fetched 2 November and last updated 30 October, has him at center on the second forward line between Arseny Gritsyuk and Jesper Bratt. Nico Hischier centers the line with Timo Meier and Luke Evangelista. The same page puts Hughes on the first power-play unit with Bratt, Hischier, Evangelista and Luke Hughes. Evan Rodrigues, Anthony Mantha, Gritsyuk, Meier and Dougie Hamilton are on the second unit. Ferda Hockey, checked within the last few days, has the Bratt-Hughes-Gritsyuk trio together for 11:57 at 5-on-5 in the Oct 30 game at Vegas, and PP1 time of 2:59 together. I did not find a source for his expected total ice time this season. Last season's 282 total minutes in 14 games is from our data.
He sits on PP1 and plays with Bratt and Gritsyuk, which sources like 5V5 Hockey (as of Oct 20) and Ferda Hockey call the top line. 5V5 Hockey's Oct 20 page shows him with 2 goals and 7 assists in 8 games to that point. Last season's shot volume was 54 shots on goal in 14 games, and 4 power-play points came from that same limited sample.
Last season he played only 14 games, and the Rotowire page I found mentions his injury woes continuing. Daily Faceoff's page lists Hischier's line first and Hughes's second, so his five-on-five deployment is behind Hischier's by that label. He also adds almost nothing outside scoring and shots: 0 hits and 8 blocks last season in 14 games.
Where analysts split
Broad agreement on his usage: every current line source I found has him at center between Bratt and Gritsyuk and on PP1. The only difference is labeling, because Daily Faceoff and ESPN list Hischier's line as line 1 and Hughes's as line 2, while 5V5 Hockey, Ferda Hockey and Morning Puck call Bratt-Hughes-Gritsyuk the top line. I found no beat-writer or Athletic analysis arguing over his role this season. Health is the open question, and I found no current injury report.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at C
Fantasy Memo reads your league and answers that every Monday, and checks your lineup on the days you play.
Connect your league: 14 days free