For the longest time, Quinn Hughes was inevitably going to the New Jersey Devils. Even if the Vancouver Canucks traded the eldest Hughes brother to another team, the end goal would always be the same. If Quinn Hughes wanted to play with his brothers, Jack and Luke Hughes, while everyone was in their primes, he would have to come to New Jersey.
Then, the Devils had a chance to cut the line. All reports stated the Devils and the Canucks were embroiled in negotiations to send Quinn Hughes to New Jersey in December. Then, he went to Minnesota.
It was a shocker, but many, many reports came out afterwards stating that the Devils dropped the ball and allowed Wild GM Bill Guerin to jump in with a Godfather offer to bring the second-best defenseman in the world to the State of Hockey. For the first time, there was doubt that Quinn Hughes would ever play in New Jersey.
And with that, there’s doubt that the future of the Devils runs through the Hughes brothers. There’s a lot more to that conversation, including the fact that Hughes is about to miss the playoffs for the fifth time in seven seasons, and he was injured for the playoffs last season.
Luke Hughes just signed a seven-year deal that pays him $9 million per season. The Devils overpaid for the young defenseman, but they did that to get some sort of guarantee that the Hughes brothers would combine their powers in the Garden State. Now, it feels like that doesn’t matter.
The future of the franchise will depend on this summer. There’s a lot that is going to happen this summer. If we were to guess, they will hire a general manager, head coach, most of the front office, attempt to re-sign Nico Hischier, revamp the top six, attempt to move out one or two expensive defenseman, and figure out how long they want to re-sign Simon Nemec and Arseny Gritsyuk. Still, the most important move is the one they have no control over.
Quinn Hughes still determines the future of the New Jersey Devils
If Quinn Hughes re-signs in Minnesota, even if it’s for four seasons or less, it changes how the Devils navigate the future. If he doesn’t, a new GM could swoop in and help the Wild recapture assets. Especially if the Wild lose in the first round again, they might be motivated to call this an all-in move that didn’t work. If the Devils can somewhat match their price with different assets, then that changes the trajectory of this franchise.
If they can’t combine the Hughes brothers, and we’re basically counting the days until Jack Hughes is moving on, then it’s going to be really hard to be a Devils fan.