{"id":440395,"date":"2026-02-01T20:39:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T20:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/440395\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T20:39:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T20:39:26","slug":"devils-week-ahead-schedule-storylines-hughes-day-to-day-hamiltons-resurgence-and-more-the-hockey-writers-new-jersey-devils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/440395\/","title":{"rendered":"Devils Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines \u2014 Hughes Day-to-Day, Hamilton’s Resurgence, and More – The Hockey Writers – New Jersey Devils"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Jersey Devils are looking to build momentum heading into the Olympic break after an electric overtime win against the Nashville Predators, followed by a devastating 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators<\/a>. This week features only two games, but both contests are crucial Metropolitan Division matchups. Here are a few storylines to follow for the week of Feb. 1 \u2013 Feb. 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jack Hughes Day-to-Day, Should Return Soon<\/p>\n

Star forward Jack Hughes<\/a> exited Thursday night\u2019s game against the Predators in the first period. Afterwards, the team confirmed that it was a lower-body injury that required further assessment. He\u2019s currently listed as day-to-day, but the Devils shouldn\u2019t be without him for too long.<\/p>\n

Ahead of Saturday\u2019s game against the Senators, head coach Sheldon Keefe shared<\/a> a positive update about his condition, which indicated that he should return to the ice soon. \u201cEvaluation yesterday confirmed what we thought, which is good news, that it\u2019s not anything serious,\u201d said Keefe.<\/p>\n

Can Hamilton\u2019s Offensive Resurgence Continue?<\/p>\n

Dougie Hamilton<\/a>\u2019s impressive point production continues, pulling off a nine-game point streak after being benched a few weeks ago against the Winnipeg Jets. With two goals in his last four games, he\u2019s been essential as the Devils\u2019 blue line reorients itself without Luke Hughes<\/a> in the lineup.<\/p>\n

Related: New Jersey Devils\u2019 3 Stars of January<\/a><\/p>\n

Given his recent performance, there\u2019s a chance that Hamilton might remain in New Jersey after the trade deadline. His mid-season resurgence could not have come at a better time, reminding fans of his offensive dominance. Can his redemption arc continue?<\/p>\n

Olympic Anticipation Continues<\/p>\n

Leading up to the Olympic break, fans have a lot to be excited about. Seven Devils will represent their home countries in the Winter Olympics, with NHL players participating in the Games for the first time since 2014.<\/p>\n

The \u201cSwiss Trio\u201d \u2014 comprised of Nico Hischier, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Timo Meier \u2014 was named to Switzerland\u2019s preliminary roster<\/a> in June. Likewise, Simon Nemec joined Slovakia\u2019s initial group over the summer, as well as former Devil Tomas Tatar. Later on, Jesper Bratt and Jacob Markstrom were invited to join Team Sweden, while Jack Hughes earned a spot playing for the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The opening ceremony will be held on Feb. 6, and the men\u2019s hockey tournament will begin on Feb. 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Devils Schedule Feb. 1 \u2014 Feb. 8<\/p>\n

DateOpponentTime (EST)VenueNotesTue, Feb. 3vs. Columbus Blue Jackets7:00 PMPrudential CenterFinal game of the season seriesThu, Feb. 5vs. New York Islanders7:00 PMPrudential CenterLooking for redemption after dropping three straight games against the Islanders<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New Jersey Devils are looking to build momentum heading into the Olympic break after an electric overtime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5109],"tags":[3189,201,1294,5,1272,576,151,5185,5184,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-440395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-jersey-devils","8":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","9":"tag-devils","10":"tag-dougie-hamilton","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-jack-hughes","13":"tag-new-jersey","14":"tag-new-jersey-devils","15":"tag-newjersey","16":"tag-newjerseydevils","17":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}