If the New Jersey Devils end up landing Quinn Hughes in a trade, the cost won’t stop at draft picks and a roster player or two. One or more prospects could be headed out the door as part of the deal, and three names stand out as the most likely candidates.
The possibility is tied to what happens this week, when Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin is scheduled to meet with Hughes about a potential contract extension. If that conversation leads to the conclusion that Hughes is still set on his original plan of joining his brothers on the Devils, a trade could follow.
That kind of move would almost certainly be expensive. A deal for the eldest Hughes would likely involve a roster player or two along with high-end draft picks, and prospects would probably be included as well. If New Jersey gets Quinn a year ahead of schedule, these are the three young players most likely to be part of the package.
Mikhail Yegorov is the clearest name to watch. The Devils do not have a long-term answer in goal outside of him, which means moving him would have to bring back an elite player like Quinn Hughes.
Anything less, and New Jersey should keep him in the system. Minnesota, meanwhile, already has Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson in place in the crease.
Gustavsson had surgery and will miss the start of the season, but the Wild still plan to keep that tandem together for a while. If Yegorov were added to the mix, though, that could change.
One of those two goalies could become trade bait for help elsewhere. Yegorov has the talent to become an NHL starter; he just still has more development ahead of him.
Anton Silayev is another possibility. He’s a good prospect, but his selection by the Devils in 2024 at 10th overall was viewed as a strange one.
New Jersey should have taken Zeev Buium, but the Wild traded up to get him and then used him to acquire Quinn Hughes from the Canucks. Even so, Silayev still carries value as a young defenseman trying to carve out a place in the NHL.
From Minnesota’s side, trying to recover a high-upside defenseman in a Hughes-related trade makes sense.
Then there’s Alexander Command, whom the Devils took in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft with the 12th overall pick. New Jersey is high on him, and his upside as a strong two-way forward makes him an appealing piece.
But trades for players of Hughes’ caliber require real talent going the other way. Minnesota, which isn’t especially deep down the middle in its system, would have plenty of interest if Command develops into the center he’s capable of becoming.
Letting go of a premium prospect this early is never easy, but that’s often the price of making a major deal.
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A recent Colorado court ruling has made the situation more complicated by opening the door for some athletes who began college sports in the 2022-23 season and used up four years of eligibility to return to NCAA athletics. Salminen now has a wider menu of choices than the usual pro-hockey decision tree, with the ability to sign with any NHL team, go back to college hockey, or keep his career moving in Europe, and that uncertainty is exactly what makes his case worth watching for New Jersey. [Read more 🡒]