The New Jersey Devils are in a tailspin. Since Jack Hughes got injured, which impacted a team that was already one of the most injured teams in the NHL, the Devils have been 5-9-0. They have gone from at the top of the Metropolitan Division standing to near the bottom. They’ve lost six of their last seven games, and all of them have been convincing and in regulation.
Their most recent loss, an 8-4 drubbing at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning, should have humbled the team from top to bottom. Yes, Jacob Markstrom’s performance to start contributed to the loss, but they put very little effort into the performance for the rest of the night. You don’t give up eight goals without allowing eight very scorable chances.
It’s never been clearer that the Devils need a trade. It doesn’t matter that they’d have to overpay right now. They need a move. They cannot wait until the trade deadline. There are too many games from now until then. They cannot wait until Jack Hughes gets back because they could be 10 points out of a playoff spot with the way the Metropolitan Division is playing.
The Devils needed a move, and the obvious one would have fixed everything. Quinn Hughes would have turned the Devils into a playoff team immediately. When his brother returned, they had a legit chance to beat all the other teams in the Eastern Conference. If they had more injury luck later in the season, anything was possible.
The New Jersey Devils had a chance to save their season with a Quinn Hughes trade, but now that's off the table.
Unfortunately, the eldest Hughes brother is now heading to Minnesota while the Devils are staring at a back-to-back without Arseny Gristyuk. There’s no good will or faith in New Jersey after the Wild sent Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round pick for Hughes.
The Devils are going to make another move. It’s probably a move that happens sooner rather than later. They know they can’t keep playing like they are, but the move to save the season is now off the table.
Can the Devils get back to how they were playing early in the season? Sure, but they are playing so badly right now, and the team has no light at the end of the tunnel. Hughes isn’t coming back for another 10-12 games. Who knows when Brett Pesce is returning? Quinn Hughes would have turned this team around. Now, he’s going to compete for a Stanley Cup with the Minnesota Wild.