Jack Hughes was pulled aside for a first-intermission interview during the New Jersey Devils‘ home opener against Philadelphia on Thursday, with his team trailing 1-0. The hockey questions went fine. The sign-off didn’t.
ESPN’s A.J. Mleczko wrapped things up with a line about his injury history.
“Well, it’s great to see you healthy,” Mleczko said. “Let’s wrap you in bubble wrap and use plastic cutlery this year. Does that sound good?”
Hughes didn’t smile.
“I mean, I think that’s a weird joke. Big game, but…” he said, and skated off.
Mleczko turned back to camera and addressed it immediately.
“No sense of humor here in a big game, but I appreciate his time, and he had a good start here this season,” she said.
What injury did Jack Hughes have?
The plastic cutlery reference was aimed at one of the stranger absences of last season. Hughes cut his hand at a team dinner in November 2025, needed surgery on his finger, and missed 18 straight games before returning on December 21.
It cost his team more than it cost him. He had 10 goals and 20 points through 17 games before it happened, and New Jersey lost 10 of the 18 games he sat out.
The bubble wrap half of the joke points at something broader. Hughes has reached 70 games in a season exactly once in seven years, playing 61, 56, 49, 78, 62, 62 and 61 games across his career. Durability has followed him since he arrived as the first overall pick in 2019.
READ MORE: AJ Mleczko: the Olympic gold medallist who became the first woman in an NHL playoff booth
Reaction online split roughly down the middle. Some thought the joke was poorly judged and poorly timed, aimed at a sore subject while a player is in the middle of a game his team is losing. Others felt Hughes should have taken the ribbing, pointing out that his injury record is hardly a secret.
For what it’s worth, the exchange didn’t appear to bother him on the ice. Hughes is coming off a season in which he put up 77 points in 61 games and scored the overtime winner in the Olympic gold medal game against Canada.
Read more:
