New Jersey Devils’ Sheldon Keefe Talks About Jack Hughes Penalty – Hockey Writers – New Jersey Devils

Two things are true right now: Jack Hughes is hot and the New Jersey Devils’ penalty kill has been top-notch – an 85.1% success rate ranks them sixth in the NHL. After some injuries, head coach Sheldon Keefe did not shy away from giving Hughes more responsibility on the penalty kill, something he has never been given by another Devils coach.

In the last few games, he got 4:19 of kill time and the early results have been good. The opposition has only two characters efforts at that time – and not a single goal scoring opportunity of any kind. In fact, Hughes’ expected field goal percentage (xGF%) on his kills is 85.78%, which means the Devils had more chances despite being underdogs. Note the small sample, but that is (by far) the highest xGF% among all NHL penalty killers, ahead of Brock Nelson’s 55.30%. (via Natural Stat Trick.)

Hockey Writers asked Keefe about Hughes’ latest posting, to which he gave a very insightful response:

“He’s just smart. You know, I’ve seen some pretty good five-for-five things from Jack in terms of his level of commitment defensively…he’s been in every penalty kill meeting we’ve had since training camp. Obviously with Lazar and Bastian out, we’re missing two penalty killers. There are more minutes and opportunity there, and more need. I think you did a great job. He was not used much; there is a situation, honestly. If the killer takes a penalty or maybe (Jack) hasn’t had a shift in a long time, I want to make sure I get him out of there.”

Obviously 85.78 xGF% is unsustainable for kills, but the logic works. If Keefe can continue to throw Hughes well against the second unit, he’s certainly shown the ability to move to tight spots and get the puck where he needs to be. Maybe he’s not the strongest on the puck, but so far, his run has made that point.

Hughes probably won’t be someone who throws his body in front of the gun in a certain position and blocks slapshots, but he doesn’t have to be when used with the right unit in the right situation. Especially when the kills are down, he’s an ideal candidate to launch a tape-to-tape spring pass to his teammate out of the box, or maybe move the puck up ice and create a weird rush. Former head coach Lindy Ruff used Jesper Bratt on the kill last season, and he’s been a mainstay, getting 104 minutes per kill since then.

The numbers don’t lie: Even at power, Hughes’ expected goals allowed per 60 minutes (xGA/60) dropped from 3.37 last season, to 2.43 this season – nearly a 28% drop. Keefe continued to praise his defensive maturity, and the Devils will be much better because of it.