The Quinn Hughes noise has taken over the summer, and New Jersey keeps coming up for one simple reason: the Devils are built to make a real run at him.
That chatter has only grown as the offseason drags on. There hasn’t been a major trade since July 2nd, so rumors have filled the vacuum.
Hughes was eligible to extend with the Minnesota Wild on July 1st, and roughly 40 days later, the talk still hasn’t cooled off. Elliotte Friedman has said he won’t be concerned until Hughes begins the season without a new deal in place, which gives Bill Guerin a clear deadline to work with.
For a stretch this summer, Hughes was around the Devils’ orbit anyway. He spent most of his time in New Jersey and all of it with family, including his brothers Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes.
That meant time around Jack, plus appearances that included Jessica Alba and Tate McRae, watching the World Cup Final from a luxury suite, walking out as the introduction to Morgan Wallen, and enjoying the perks of being close to the Jersey Shore. He has since been back in Michigan for a few weeks and has also been dealing with a death in the family, which naturally slows everything down.
The Devils have already learned the hard way what happens when they’re not ready for a swing like this. Last season, Tom Fitzgerald entered the year with very little cap room and assumed he could move Dougie Hamilton if the opportunity to bring the Hughes brothers together ever appeared. That never happened, and now Quinn Hughes is working toward a new contract with the Wild instead of New Jersey.
That’s where the current front office matters. Sunny Mehta has already started clearing away some of the old mistakes and stockpiling assets.
Simon Nemec wasn’t necessarily a bad pick, but moving him for a package that included Matias Vanhanen, Lavr Gashilov, Etienne Morin, and two first-round picks gave the Devils ammunition for a future blockbuster. Mehta also sent Jacob Markstrom to the Florida Panthers for Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist, cutting salary while adding bottom-six depth and getting out from under the Markstrom extension.
That kind of flexibility matters because the Devils actually have the pieces to chase Quinn Hughes if the opportunity opens up. A deal could look something like Dawson Mercer and four first-round picks, though the exact framework could also involve prospects such as Seamus Casey, Alexander Command, Anton Silayev, or Lenni Hameenaho.
Another roster player might have to be included too, with Arseny Gritsyuk or Cody Glass as possibilities. Either way, a bottom-six piece is not what stops you from making a Quinn Hughes trade.
The cap picture is just as encouraging. New Jersey has $3.85 million in space right now, according to PuckPedia, and Mercer carries a $4 million cap hit. Put those together and the Devils arrive at $7.85 million, which matches Quinn Hughes’s cap hit for the 2026-27 season.
The long view is even better. The Devils are projected to have $32 million in cap space next season and don’t have many major names to re-sign.
If Mercer is moved, Cody Glass becomes their biggest free agent. That means New Jersey could pay Hughes $18 million per season and still have $14 million left to replace a line’s worth of depth.
If the top nine includes Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Cody Glass, Arseny Gritsyuk, Anthony Mantha, Connor Brown, and Dawson Mercer, only two of those players would need new deals, and they might be the cheapest ones on the list.
Mercer’s departure would not be impossible to absorb, especially if the Devils can bring Dylan Larkin into the conversation. He’s close to the Hughes family, and New Jersey could fit both Hughes and Larkin this season if it moved one of its left-handed defensemen.
Detroit could also be interested in pieces like Cody Glass or Nick Bjugstad. Timing would matter, and the Devils would need to match Larkin’s cap hit to make that work.
The bottom line is straightforward: New Jersey has the money, the assets, and the roster flexibility to pull this off. The real prize is getting the Hughes brothers on the same team. Everything else is just part of the price.
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Devils Built More Firepower But One Question Could Still Sink Them
The Devils spent the offseason clearly trying to add another layer to their attack, bringing in forwards Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist and Ben Steeves while also signing Anthony Mantha to a two-year contract. They also locked up captain Nico Hischier, a move that keeps the core intact and signals an organization that believes it can push its way deeper into the Eastern Conference picture.
Still, for all the added firepower, the biggest swing factor might be in the crease, where the team is facing an uneasy transition after moving on from Jacob Markstrom. New Jersey is set to lean on Nico Daws and David Rittich, and if the offense is going to translate into wins, the Devils may need one of them to settle the position quickly. [Read more 🡒]