The New Jersey Devils are still negotiation a long-term contract with Luke Hughes. The price is reportedly going beyond what they expected. Money is apparently the reason this deal hasn’t come to fruition yet. The Devils were hit with a price on an eight-year deal they didn’t expect. That’s the world we live in with a rising salary cap.
Hughes’s deal is going to put the Devils over the salary cap for the 2025-26 season, but it can be managed by putting Johnny Kovacevic on long-term injured reserve. With LTIR and a few other cap maneuvers, the Devils could afford to pay Hughes around $9.5 million per season.
However, that’s only until Johnny Kovacevic comes back. If nobody else has a long-term injury on the blue line before Kovacevic returns in January (at the earliest), then they have a pretty significant issue. Not only do they need to offload at least $3 million in cap commitments, but they also have seven NHL-level defensemen.
Simon Nemec is expected to take Kovacevic’s spot in his absence. The former second-overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft was supposed to take his spot last season, but ironically, Kovacevic’s rise allowed the Devils to demote Nemec to Utica. When Nemec returned in time for the playoffs, he was a different player. A better player.
In the playoffs, Nemec was at times their best defenseman. He was dynamic and held his own against a powerful Carolina Hurricanes team that was trying to overwhelm the Devils. Nemec even scored the Devils' overtime winner in their only victory of the series.
So, if the Devils don’t have another injury and Nemec plays to the level we’ve seen since April, they have seven really good defensemen. Some might consider this a “good” problem, but it’s still a problem. They cannot go 11-7 every night. There will be an odd man out. What could Sheldon Keefe do with that extra man?
The question is probably “what will Tom Fitzgerald do with that extra man?”.
The Devils are one of the most likely trade options early this season, and their abundance of defensemen and depth at the position makes that type of trade most likely. There’s also a dearth of defensemen around the league, and one team in particular will likely be desperate for one early in the season.
this cannot be real bro wtf... might be the worst d-core of all time pic.twitter.com/O99ktihRQ8
— The Riddler 🇨🇦 (@ridlygreig71) September 25, 2025
To be fair, there is a little jest in that tweet above, but that’s pretty much the defense the Red Wings are parading out there this season. Simon Edvinsson will come in after he recovers from his injury, but that’s it for reinforcements.
This is a bad defensive unit. Just calling a spade a spade. Mortiz Seider is a really good defenseman, but he’s not in the top 10 in the league. He would need to be in order to carry this unit. The Red Wings desperately need another defenseman, and they can’t settle for just a depth guy.
We imagine they are on the phone with Pittsburgh trying to pry Erik Karlsson from them, or maybe they can make something happen with the Maple Leafs and Morgan Rielly, but the Devils seem like as good a connection as any.
The Devils could afford to lose a right-handed defenseman, and Dougie Hamilton has been the most popular name on the trade block. Detroit would love to have Hamilton on the team, and the Devils $9 million man might even allow for the trade to happen.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman hasn’t been able to build a playoff team in the Motor City, but this season might be his opening. The Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators are riding high after making the playoffs and could take their eyes off the ball. The Toronto Maple Leafs let Mitch Marner walk and didn’t really replace him. The Florida Panthers are VERY injured, coming off their third trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Tampa is still Tampa, but there’s some weird injury stuff there with Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Maybe there’s an opening for the Red Wings to make a move, but they can’t do it with this defensive unit. They need an upgrade there.
And this is why they are the Devils' most likely early-season partner. What’s the return? Not to cop out, but that can be figured out later. There will be positive value if it’s someone like Dougie Hamilton, but for now, the cap space and roster spot is win enough for New Jersey.