The New Jersey Devils have one thing left to do this offseason. Many fans would like them to make multiple moves, but truly, the one thing they absolutely have to do is sign Luke Hughes. Yes, we’ve talked about this from just about every angle. We know there are multiple contract options for the Devils to offer Hughes, and some are an absolute disaster.
One thing is clear: nobody knows what is going on. The traditional insiders are either saying absolutely nothing (like Pierre Lebrun, who hasn’t made an organic tweet about the NHL since July 3rd) or they are saying what amounts to nothing (like Elliotte Friedman, who only mentioned Jack Hughes’s contract as a possible impact on his brother’s negotiations).
However, recently, we got at least a little information on Luke Hughes. We’ll let you decide the grain of salt in which you take this information.
Luke Fox of Sportsnet was on the Halford and Brough show last week. He said that the Devils and Hughes are both motivated to get a long-term deal done. He even predicted that the two might be circling a seven-year deal as the proper middle ground.
This was great news for Devils fans. They don’t want to deal with this contract in the future, and many long-term deals have come in as a major positive down the line when GMs like Tom Fitzgerald takes a risk on a budding star. This happened with Jack Hughes, who signed for $8 million per season on an eight-year deal despite not showing his superstar stuff.
Now, Jack Hughes is the best contract in the NHL. The Devils hope a similar thing can happen with the 21-year-old defenseman, and a seven-year deal might do just that.
Yet, we get another report this week from Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli saying that Luke Hughes’s deal is going to be “complicated,” and a short-term deal might make the most season.
And there you have it. Two reports saying basically opposite conclusions for the Luke Hughes negotiation. Is one of these reporters completely wrong? It’s hard to say no, but it really depends on what their sources are saying and who they are.
Don't put too much faith in anonymous reports about Luke Hughes
But the conclusion for Devils fans is, unfortunately, to just be patient. This is much later than anyone wanted to wait for a contract to get done, but we don’t foresee either Hughes or the Devils to push this to an uncomfortable position. Tom Fitzgerald knows how important getting Hughes on the ice is to the team’s success, and vis-à-vis his own success as a GM. Hughes knows how important this year is to his career progression.
There is too much on the line not to figure this out. Unless one of the most trusted reporters in the NHL reports something, take it for what it is. It’s just conversation fodder in a very boring offseason.