Bill Guerin’s summer has given the New Jersey Devils something they badly need: a clearer read on the Quinn Hughes situation.
That clarity still doesn’t come with a neat answer. Hughes could be available next year, in 2030, or not at all. But the Minnesota Wild general manager’s recent run of bold moves - and his unusual willingness to talk publicly while the Minnesota State Fair was going on - helps frame the timeline the Devils are trying to solve.
Guerin’s radio appearance on KFAN stood out not just because it was packed with cringeworthy moments, but because GMs usually don’t do this sort of thing, especially in the middle of major contract business. Guerin even said it was his third interview of the day. That kind of openness is not normal for a front office leader in the middle of a tense negotiation, which is part of why his comments matter.
For New Jersey, the real issue is simple: how long do they have to wait for Quinn Hughes? The question hung over the Devils last season, and it’s hard to ignore the way things unraveled after the star defenseman was traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the Minnesota Wild.
To figure out what happens next, the Devils have to understand where Guerin is coming from. He enters this offseason with a different kind of confidence than he’s had before, and it isn’t hard to see why. The Wild are under pressure, but Guerin seems convinced a deal gets done and that Minnesota is headed toward Stanley Cup contention.
Part of that confidence comes from the way his summer has gone. Last offseason, Guerin got Kirill Kaprizov signed late, with the deal announced on Sept.
- It was a difficult negotiation, and Kaprizov became the highest-paid player in the NHL even as a winger.
Still, Guerin got it done.
Then there’s the Hughes trade itself. It was a bold swing at the time, and it worked.
Hughes didn’t control where he landed, but he did have a say in how he handled the move, and his play after the trade was his best since his Norris Trophy 2023-24 season. Guerin believed Hughes wanted to be in Minnesota and wanted to buy into a team that has gone all in.
The way Hughes played backed that up, at least in the short term.
Guerin also carries another kind of leverage: he was the GM of the USA hockey team that won the Gold Medal at the Olympics. He took heat for leaving Jason Robertson, Lane Hutson, and Cole Caufield off the roster, but the decision worked. On top of that, he won the Gold with both Jack and Quinn Hughes on the team, which adds another layer to his relationship with the brothers.
And then there’s the hardware. Guerin won the Jim Gregory Award as GM of the year, a sign of how much respect he has around the league. Put all of that together, and he enters this season with more confidence than he’s had in the past.
That’s where the Devils come back into the picture.
Quinn Hughes has made it no secret that he wants to play with his brothers. Jack and Luke are in New Jersey, which gives the Devils a natural edge, but that doesn’t mean Quinn is headed there immediately. A reunion could still wait until the 2030 offseason, and it could happen in Minnesota, New Jersey, or somewhere else entirely.
Guerin’s job is to meet Hughes halfway. He can sell winning, and he has a case that the Wild are better positioned to do that over this season and the next three.
Hughes wants to be with his brothers, and he can line that up with a contract that matches Jack’s. The Cale Makar $20.5 million average annual value deal is the benchmark here, and both sides would likely end up somewhere close to that record-setting range while still leaving enough cap room to keep building around a contender.
Even if Hughes doesn’t sign and signals that he’s leaving after the season, that still doesn’t guarantee he’s moved. Guerin is one of the NHL’s most aggressive GMs, and his history suggests he would keep Hughes and push forward anyway, especially with this season looking like Minnesota’s best shot at a Cup.
That leaves the Devils with the uncomfortable part of the process: patience.
It’s easy to say New Jersey should tune out the noise and prepare for a season without Hughes. It’s much harder to actually do that, especially after last season’s attempt. The Devils need to keep the possibility alive, even with new GM Sunny Mehta already making a flurry of moves.
Mehta, specifically, has to plan for an extension. If the Wild lock Hughes into a three-year deal, then New Jersey’s challenge becomes building a better Cup outlook in a few years than Minnesota, or any other team that could make sense for him.
A shorter deal might not even be bad news for the Devils. If Hughes stays with the Wild for now, New Jersey could use the resources it has freed up to make the roster stronger and more attractive later on.
When Mehta took over, he left the door open for a major swing, and the obvious target was Hughes. But if that path gets blocked by an extension, the Devils could pivot and use the depth they’ve built to chase another big name, like Connor Hellebuyck or Dylan Larkin.
It’s a long shot, but Mehta has to be ready for it. If he wants to convince Hughes that New Jersey is the best place to win now and later, he’ll need to be prepared for every version of the timeline.
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Matyas Melovsky, Shane Lachance and Jakub Malek are among the names that now matter even more in that setting, because their recent play will go a long way toward determining who can actually help New Jersey down the line. For the Devils, the bigger question is not just which prospects can survive in Utica, but which ones can sharpen enough there to turn a logjam into real competition, especially with goaltending still presenting its own uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]