Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner in New Jersey’s first win of the season. Before that he had the most uncomfortable 20 seconds of television of the young NHL season.
During an intermission interview in the Devils’ opener against Philadelphia on Oct. 1, ESPN’s AJ Mleczko tried a joke.
“Well, it’s great to see you healthy. Let’s wrap you in bubble wrap and use plastic cutlery this year.”
Hughes stared at her. Said nothing for a beat. Then: “I mean, I think that’s a weird joke.” And he skated away.
What the Joke Was Referencing
Hughes injured his hand in November 2025 in what was described as a fluke accident at dinner with Barstool’s Frank “The Tank” Fleming. The plastic cutlery line was a reference to that.
So the joke had a reference point: an injury that cost Hughes a chunk of a season and became a running bit on the internet.
Who Was Wrong Here
Both of them a little, and neither of them much.
Mleczko made a joke that works fine in a studio and lands badly when delivered to the subject of it, between periods, while he is trying to win a hockey game. Players in that setting are in a specific headspace, and the in-game interview format exists entirely for the benefit of the broadcast rather than the athlete.
Hughes could have laughed it off. He also told the truth, which is that a stranger on television had just reminded him of the most embarrassing injury of his career in front of a national audience.
Four words and a departure is a mild response. He did not insult her or complain about the format afterward.
The Format Is the Real Culprit
Mid-game interviews ask athletes to be media-trained entertainers in the middle of competing. Most of them handle it by saying nothing for 30 seconds, which produces television nobody wants to watch.
When somebody tries to make it interesting, the risk is exactly this. The interviewer reaches for personality and the player has no appetite for it.
Then He Won the Game
Hughes scored in overtime to give the Devils their first victory of the season, which is the most complete possible answer to a question about whether he is healthy.
Coverage has been split on whether the joke was out of line or merely awkward. Neither ESPN nor Mleczko has issued a statement, and Hughes has not commented further.
The final score, his stat line for the night and any follow-up from either side have not been reported in the coverage available.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
