The Devils know better than most what can happen when a star defenseman signs long and the body starts to betray him.
That’s why the Cale Makar deal has been such a big talking point around the league. New Jersey isn’t in the middle of those negotiations, but it is watching closely because the structure of this contract could matter later if Quinn Hughes becomes available.
That’s a subject for another day, though the Devils may need to use Makar’s deal in a negotiation next year, or ideally this year, if Hughes is on the market. If Hughes won’t move on price or term, Bill Guerin could decide to send him elsewhere.
Or he could simply open the wallet of his billionaire owners and pay him.
For now, the bigger discussion is the term on Makar’s contract. A lot of people expected him to shorten the deal so he could cash in again around age 30 and line up another huge payday.
With the salary cap climbing quickly, signing for eight years could cost him something like $50 million. But there’s always risk in these decisions, and the Devils have lived through the downside.
P.K. Subban is the cautionary tale.
On the second day of the 2019 NHL Draft, just hours after the Devils used the No. 1 pick on Jack Hughes, they swung a major trade for Subban. New Jersey sent two second-round picks plus defensive prospects Steven Santini and Jeremy Davies to Nashville for three years of Subban.
At the time, it looked like an obvious move for then-GM Ray Shero. The Devils needed a true top defenseman, and they had needed one for years.
Sami Vatanen and Damon Severson were useful second-pair types, but they weren’t the answer at the top. Andy Greene was too old to handle that role anymore, and some of the club’s young bets, including Mirco Mueller and Will Butcher, hadn’t panned out.
Ty Smith was still years away. The need was real, and Subban seemed like the guy who could fill it immediately.
He was 30 when the deal went through and had three years left on an eight-year contract that carried a $9 million average annual value. At that point, it was easy to believe he had plenty left.
Instead, the story unraveled quickly. Subban is 37 now, and his career feels like it ended long ago.
In practical terms, it ended with that contract. He and the Devils parted ways three years later, and the whole stretch became a disappointment.
He never played a playoff game in a Devils sweater.
Back problems changed everything. The injuries sapped the burst that made him a star and took a little off his shot too. Maybe he could have found a role on a veteran’s minimum or something close to it, but he never seemed interested in that kind of late-career adjustment, and he retired from hockey.
That’s the danger for defensemen in particular. They absorb more punishment, get hit more often, and stand in the line of fire for 100 MPH slapshots. One bad hit can alter everything.
That’s the backdrop for Makar’s situation. If something derails him, the value of a massive contract changes in a hurry.
Right now, he is locked into more than $160 million whether he plays or not. If his career somehow went the way Subban’s did in New Jersey starting tomorrow, the Avalanche would still be on the hook for the full deal or whatever amount remains after a buyout, which would be enormous, though unlikely.
In Other News...
Luke Hughes Just Changed A Huge Devils Concern
Sheldon Keefe is heading into his third season behind the Devils bench with a revamped staff, including the addition of Ted Donato, as New Jersey keeps trying to sharpen a group that has not always looked settled in the biggest moments. One of the biggest questions around the roster has been Luke Hughes, whose absence from training camp in 2024 because of a shoulder injury and contract talks left the club dealing with more uncertainty than it wanted around a key young defenseman.
Hughes has now been seen skating after surgery, a sign his recovery is moving in the right direction after a season that saw him struggle and ultimately miss both the Olympics and the playoffs. Even with that progress, the bigger picture around Hughes is still unresolved, and the Devils are left waiting to see how much he can restore his game and how quickly he can reestablish himself as part of their core. [Read more 🡒]
One Devils Trade Helped Build A Cup Winner
The Devils path to their first Stanley Cup was shaped by more than the stars at the top of the roster. One of the quieter but more important moves came on Aug. 28, 1992, when New Jersey sent a 1993 second-round pick and forward Bobby Holik to Hartford in exchange for goaltender Sean Burke and defenseman Eric Weinrich, a deal that looked useful in the moment and became even more meaningful as the years passed.
Holik went on to become a key part of the Devils identity, especially as a member of the hard-nosed Crash Line during the 1993-94 season, and the draft pick New Jersey received turned into Jay Pandolfo, another player who fit the teams championship mold. It was the kind of trade that rarely gets remembered as a franchise-defining moment at the time, but in hindsight it helped build the depth and style that carried the Devils to their first title in 1995. [Read more 🡒]
Arseny Gritsyuk Enters A Devils Battle That Could Change His Role
Arseny Gritsyuk is heading into his second NHL season with a clearer sense of his place in the Devils plans, even if the exact fit is still unsettled. The 25-year-old winger put up 31 points in 66 games as a rookie, then signed a three-year contract extension in July, a sign the organization sees real value in what he can bring as he continues to establish himself in New Jersey.
After spending time rehabbing from a shoulder procedure, Gritsyuk is now working back toward full form with training camp set to sort out the details. Cody Glass has already voiced confidence that Gritsyuk can grab a top-six spot, but where he ultimately lands in the lineup for the 2026-27 season is still up in the air, making camp a meaningful next step in what could become a bigger role. [Read more 🡒]