First overall pick Hughes gets rocked by brutal hit and leaves the game!

Welcome to the NHL, Jack Hughes.

It feels like that’s what Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Matt Niskanen had to say to the first overall pick when he rammed the rookie near the boards during the first period of the game against the New Jersey Devils on Friday.

Right after the brutal hit, teammate Kyle Palmieri knew it went down wrong and went to the defense of Hughes, dropping the gloves with Niskanen.

Hughes’ helmet flew off on impact and he might have hit his head a bit on the dasher. He had to leave the game, but managed to return at the start of the second period.

Check out the hard hit on the star rookie:

Matt Niskanen lays out Jack Hughes and Kyle Palmieri comes to his defense pic.twitter.com/pSegMcSj0s
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 1, 2019

.@NJDevils Jack Hughes left the game after he was rocked by @NHLFlyers Matt Niskanen. Kyle Palmieri wasn't a fan of the hit ?

What do you think of the hit? ? pic.twitter.com/Z7K1lTyR3q
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 1, 2019

Palmieri ended up with a 10-minute misconduct while Hughes headed for the concussion protocol. And just like that Taylor Hall lost his two line mates…

It keeps getting tougher and tougher to be a Devil...

UPDATE: Hughes was back on the bench for the start of the second period.