New Jersey Devils’ Jack Hughes a game-time decision against Rangers

He’s (almost) back.

New Jersey Devils coach Lindy Ruff said that star forward Jack Hughes is a game-time decision against the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Hughes returned to practice on Friday for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 3. At the time, Hughes, 22, was leading the league with 20 points in 10 games, putting him well on his way to crushing his previous best of 99 set last year.

Despite missing the past five games, Hughes still sits second in Devils scoring and 15th overall with 20 points. He already has two four-point efforts against the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens, and a pair of three-point nights – in losses, surprisingly.

In other injury news, Ruff said there’s still no timeline for the returns of Nico Hischier or Timo Meier, adding, “we’ll see how they are doing each day.”

Hischier had two goals in seven games before suffering an injury in a game against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 27. Meier, meanwhile, had a slow start before finding his groove, registering 11 points in 14 games. Meier missed Thursday’s game against Pittsburgh with a lower-body injury and was not on the ice for practice on Friday.

With their 5-2 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday, the Devils are now 8-6-1 on the season. Currently sitting fourth in the Metropolitan Division – but one point behind Washington – the Devils desperately could use Hughes after going 2-3-0 in his absence.