So yeah, that deal just happened. There has been a lot of speculation on where Quinn Hughes has been building up for quite some time now. People expected Quinn to come to New Jersey, while others said the Detroit Red Wings would’ve gotten him. But to the surprise of many, the Wild jumped in and made a deal to acquire Quinn Hughes.
The Wild gave up a massive haul, including forward Marco Rossi, left winger Liam Ohgren, defenseman Zeev Buium, and a 1st round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The deal itself works for both sides, as the Canucks get a great point-per-game player in Rossi, and still have two young players in Buium and Ohgren to develop. The Wild obviously got arguably the best defenseman in the NHL right now, and putting him on a roster with guys like Matt Boldy and Kapril Kaprizov is one of the deadliest combos in the NHL.
The reaction from the Devils fanbase, however, has been overwhelmingly negative. A lot of the fanbase on social media is criticizing Tom Fitzgerald for not getting the deal done, citing the contracts Fitzgerald gave out to players like Ondrej Palat, Jacob Markstrom, and Timo Meier. Other facts include that some of the players’ contracts included NMC.
The New Jersey Devils lost the Quinn Hughes trade, but it was beyond their control
However, it was very clear from the trade that there was no way the Devils would’ve put up the same kind of leverage.
So, where does Tom Fitzgerlad go from here now that he is on the hot seat? Fitzgerald has many options, but to keep his job, he needs to make a wise decision. The one thing he cannot do at this point is panic trade for another player, as he did when he signed Ondrej Palat after Johnny Gaudreau went to Columbus.
The team itself needs more placeholders and solid depth at this point, so while trading for players like Ryan O’Reilly and Steven Stamkos may be a quick fix, the one thing he cannot do is overpay them. We may not be sure where Fitzgerald goes from here, but he’d better find a way to save this awful season quickly now that his supposed dream is gone for right now.