The New Jersey Devils 2025-26 season was defined by two different main narratives: injuries and a lack of movement. Sometimes, those two things ran into each other. The Devils couldn’t upgrade the roster because too many players were given no-trade clauses that had serious limits.Â
This came to a head with star defenseman Dougie Hamilton. The Devils reportedly tried to trade him to the San Jose Sharks in the offseason, but Hamilton said no to that deal. Clearly feeling unwanted, and with rumors about his future persisting, Hamilton struggled for the first half of the season. He had one point in November and zero points in December.
His play was unacceptable, but the way his benching was handled was even more so. Fitzgerald called it a hockey decision, which embarrassed everyone involved. Then, Hamilton was back in the lineup one day later.
The other embarrassing narrative was the one surrounding Quinn Hughes. The Devils had all the cards to make all the Hughes brothers teammates. Instead, he is dominating in Minnesota and a reunion outside the summer months in Michigan seems questionable.Â
On Saturday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said in his latest 32 Thoughts blog post that some on the Devils weren’t exactly devastated when the Devils lost that trade. During that conversation, we also learned that Tom Fitzgerald was still trying to fix the Devils as late as this year’s deadline.Â
"The other thing that will be interesting for Mehta is managing the dressing room after a tumultuous 2025-26. The Quinn Hughes pursuit meant several with trade protection were warned they might be asked to waive. That’s a challenge in the offseason, but imagine multiple players approached during the year. Everyone’s comparing notes, asking each other what they might do. Not easy. Then, at least two voided deals at the deadline. It was a lot, and will need to be settled so next year can be fresh. "Elliotte Friedman, 32 Thoughts
Clearly, Mehta’s most prudent issue this season, besides the Nico Hischier extension (which was also addressed in Friedman’s article), is the plethora of no-trade and no-move clauses gifted by Tom Fitzgerald. Many players earned them, but a team like the Devils should not have the most such clauses in the NHL.Â
What trades might have been made at the deadline? At that point, it was hard to see the Devils salvaging much from the year, so Fitzgerald might have been selling to prove he could still do the job as tasked.Â
Instead, the trades were voided. Now, what isn’t clear is if the trades were voided by player contract clauses or by ownership, but we have to assume the former is the biggest hurdle to pass. What’s strange is that the Devils team seems to really like playing for each other and playing for the fans, so they aren’t rushing to get out of dodge.
It’s an interesting narrative that Mehta will have to overcome in his new role, but his analytical mind will likely find a way out of this.Â
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