Luke Hughes reportedly wants a five-year contract extension from the New Jersey Devils, which means he and his brother, Jack Hughes, will both become unrestricted free agents in 2030. General manager Tom Fitzgerald said that extending Hughes was his "top priority" back in early July.
Obviously, that has not come into fruition despite veterans scheduled to report to training camp on September 17th. Since Hughes is a restricted free agent and can't be given an offer sheet by another team, it gives the Devils ample time to negotiate a new deal. One of the most prominent options is signing that five-year deal, but there are pros and cons for the Devils in that scenario.
Pros
This puts more pressure on the Devils to "win now" and not waste their window. Similar to football, the Devils need to go for it on fourth down. They pretty much have everything to contend: scoring, defense, goaltending, physicality, and solid coaching.
They also have players with championship experience (Ondrej Palat, Jake Allen, Paul Cotter, and Kurtis MacDermid). The only wild card is their depth scoring. We'll see how Dawson Mercer, Evgenii Dadonov, Connor Brown, and Arseniy Gritsyuk handle themselves this season. Five years will go by quickly, and the excuses are starting to run dry. The Devils need to start making deeper playoff pushes before it's too late.
Nico Hischier only has two years remaining on his contract before he becomes a free agent, just for reference. Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen are both 35 years old. Jack and Luke Hughes are two highly talented players. It would be a shame if the Devils fail to bring a Stanley Cup back to New Jersey with them on the roster.
Re-signing Luke Hughes to a five-year extension might not be ideal, but it will put more pressure on the front office to win. Maybe they'll pursue the oldest Hughes brother, Quinn Hughes, if Vancouver decides to trade him or once he hits the open market in 2027. Making a big move like that can go a long way.
Cons
If both Hughes brothers reach the open market in 2030, it will turn into an episode of Shark Tank: a bunch of millionaires bidding on a "product." The Devils will certainly have their hands full trying to negotiate contracts with both brothers. There's no clear indication that either Hughes brother wants to leave New Jersey, but it's a conflict that Fitzgerald might want to avoid.
If the Devils don't perform well, both Hughes brothers could leave for nothing. Both of them will also have trade protection, which would hypothetically make things more difficult. Personally, Fitzgerald should re-sign Luke to an eight-year extension. It locks up a core asset for many more years and avoids more conflict.