The New Jersey Devils continue to be linked to Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes. This speculation started last spring when Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford told the media that Quinn Hughes wants to play with his brothers. Those words ignited a flame that has not been put out surrounding the Devils and the Canucks.
Devils Rumors: New Jersey and Vancouver Had the Quinn Hughes Conversation
Those flames only got higher after Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on Hockey Night in Canada’s Saturday Headlines stated the Devils and Canucks had at least one conversation about Quinn Hughes. However, as he mentioned on the 32 Thoughts Podcast with Kyle Bukauskas on Monday, Friedman is walking a delicate line because discussing a Quinn Hughes trade is a taboo topic in the NHL.
“I’ll say this, people don’t want to talk about it in the league. They don’t want to talk about Quinn Hughes,” Friedman said. “And I think it’s because they know how big a deal it is. And so let me take everybody through it… Now, at the end of all of this, I was asking, Okay, we know they like those guys. There’s got to be a Quinn Hughes component to this. And I got to tell you, Kyle, people don’t want to talk about it. They really don’t, because it’s such, it’s such a hand grenade for obvious reasons.”
That is the thing everyone has been connecting the Devils and Quinn Hughes since the day Rutherford mentioned his name in the press conference back in the spring, and once again, when he put the memo out, the team was open for business.
But when a player refers to the General Manager of the New Jersey Devils by his nickname, people start to wonder if there has been more than one conversation. Not to mention, if you start peeling back the curtain between the Devils, Canucks, Quinn Hughes, and the family, are there backroom deals happening that we don’t know about?
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As Kyle Bukauskas told Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, it’s like David Blaine’s escape routine. Do we even want to know how we got to this point?
“Exactly. I think that it’s, I mean, you saw how careful I was talking about it on Saturday night,” Friedman continued. “But then Quinn Hughes refers to Tom Fitzgerald as Fitzy in the post-game. And people were like, he’s a Devil. He’s calling the GM by his nickname. I mean, we can all see this. Like it’s a big deal. And I think for a lot of people, it’s, it’s kryptonite. They don’t really want to pour gasoline on the fire.”
With the NHL cracking down on tampering, you have to wonder if, and when a deal happens for Quinn Hughes, the League doesn’t look into it. Again, Hughes is eligible for an extension on July 1st. If he signs right away, especially with the Devils, red flags will go up. That is why it is krytonite. Not to mention a player like Hughes, the second-best defenseman in the NHL, could be on the move.
Devils Rumors: Will New Jersey Trade For Quinn Hughes Next Summer?
But the New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks are talking. What the package is remains to be seen. But the parties are talking.
“But as I said, I think once the Canucks put the memo out, I think there was a conversation,” Friedman added. “And I don’t know who initiated it, and I don’t know exactly what was said, but I know they talked at least once. And I heard it was about, okay, where does everything stand, and where are we going?”
There are still many unanswered questions. Specifically, does Quinn Hughes want to play in New Jersey? Does he want to stunt his brother Luke Hughes‘ growth as a defenseman? They all want to win, but do they want to win together now?
How the New Jersey Devils potentially make the trade has to be done very carefully, with all eyes watching them.
