The New Jersey Devils have sorely missed their best player, but they'll have superstar Jack Hughes back in the lineup for an out of conference matchup with the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

“We have activated C Jack Hughes off injured reserve,” the team confirmed. “He will play tonight.”

That is absolutely monumental for a Devils team that is fighting for their postseason lives. New Jersey is 25-20-5, good enough for fifth place in the Metropolitan Division and five points back of a wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference.

Hughes will be a crucial factor down the stretch.

“Yeah, excited; ready to get back out there,” he explained after the morning skate Thursday, per NHL.com's Mike Morreale. “We definitely played really well last game. It was a big win coming out of the All-Star break so hopefully we can ride that and piece together a bunch of wins and make a serious push here.”

Hughes has missed his team's past 11 games after sustaining an upper-body injury against the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 5. He participated in the morning skate ahead of a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, but was held out of the lineup.

The young superstar wouldn't disclose information about the injury, but confirmed that he “just didn't feel right, but obviously feeling better now and excited to play,” per Morreale.

Hughes lining up between Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Holtz

Jack Hughes with his stick on fire

Hughes skated on a line with Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Holtz at Thursday's morning skate, while working with a top powerplay group that also features brother Luke Hughes, Toffoli, Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier.

“I'll be aware of his minutes, but it'll depend really on how he looks. That'll dictate the number of minutes,” Devils bench boss Lindy Ruff said about a potential restriction.

“We've got a couple guys coming back in, one that was sick and hasn't practiced [Toffoli] and the other [Hughes] who hasn't had any game conditioning. I think at some point, rust will catch up to you, but getting them back in gives us all the tools up front that we need to keep pressing forward.”

When he got injured, Jack Hughes was leading the Devils with 30 assists and 45 points in 32 games, while sitting just behind Toffoli with 15 goals.

With the former No. 1 overall pick back in the lineup, the frantic chase for a berth in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs continues.