There is a lot of fallout from the Quinn Hughes trade from the Vancouver Canucks to the Minnesota Wild that can be felt in New Jersey. One of the teams connected to Quinn Hughes was the New Jersey Devils, but as DevilsNation.com documented, they never traded for the elder Hughes brother because they lacked the assets or cap space to make it happen.
New Jersey Devils Were Never Trading For Quinn Hughes
While the Devils have not been actively looking to move Dougie Hamilton or Ondrej Palat, both players are earning salaries that New Jersey would like to shed. Hamilton is at $9 million AAV, and Palat is at $6 million AAV. Both have 10-team no-trade clauses. Both also have no-move clauses. For this exercise, they can’t be placed on waivers, as Barclay Goodrow was with the New York Rangers.
So President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald had his work cut out for him. As documented in the summer, moving Palat and Hamilton would be challenging. New Jersey doesn’t want to retain either of these players.
Not that Weekes not my confirmation but if the Devils are to move these players like with the Penguins who moved out Jarry, the Devils are not gonna went to retain on these deals. They don’t have the space to do it. #njdevils https://t.co/SgMKN5JWGw
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) December 15, 2025
The players have control, which is their right. The only way both were signing with New Jersey was through the trade protection. But you can argue the general manager could have done that with Tyler Toffoli and didn’t. That is another discussion for another time.
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However, Kevin Weekes confirmed that the Devils were talking to other teams about Palat and Hamilton.
Per sources, I’m told D Hamilton and F Palat are among names that have been
discussed in potential trade scenarios
with @NJDevils . #HockeyX #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/qhIYc0erQa— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) December 15, 2025
Whether they were part of the Vancouver Canucks deal involving Quinn Hughes is highly doubtful, given the clauses in their contracts. Neither was going to Vancouver, and the Canucks didn’t want them. But those contracts could have been part of other deals to clear cap space, and, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet confirmed on his 32 Thoughts Podcast, some of those NTC/NMCs were the reason deals didn’t get done.
“I do believe the Devils have had a couple of deals vetoed,” Friedman said. “I do believe that. I don’t know who, I don’t know what, but I do believe that’s happened. There’s too much noise out there for that not to have occurred.”
That is the first component. The second component, documented on this site and on NHLRumors.com, is that the New Jersey Devils lacked the assets to make the deal. Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford gave them every chance to make this deal. Quinn Hughes wanted to go East or closer to his family.
Do The New Jersey Devils Have to Be Careful with a Quinn Hughes Trade?
The Canucks and Devils figured they could get it done over the weekend with Vancouver in town. However, the Wild offer was so good from Minnesota GM Bill Guerin that Rutherford had no choice but to say yes. Rutherford, from those close to DevilsNation.com, was in constant communication with Fitzgerald, informing him which packages were for that player.
At some point, Fitzgerald and the Devils got to the point they couldn’t do any better than a potential package circling Simon Nemec and Dawson Mercer, plus other pieces.
- “I had another team call me and they think that the Devils reached a point where they knew they weren’t going to get Hughes here because they could not beat the Minnesota offer,” Friedman continued. “I think they kind of knew what was on the table, and they weren’t going to be able to beat that.
And realistically, the New Jersey Devils were never going to acquire Quinn Hughes, even with all the time in the world. They knew since last year that Quinn Hughes wasn’t going to extend. The Devils had too many bad contracts to move.
Luke Hughes Could See His Development Halted with Addition of Quinn Hughes
Ultimately, the cap space the Devils needed to acquire the second-best defenseman in the NHL was not available. They still have work to do to get Johnathan Kovacevic and his $4 million back into the lineup as well.
The Devils will remain active, but if those players don’t move at the trade deadline, Fitzgerald and company will have to find a way in the summer, regardless of the effects on players wanting to sign in New Jersey. There is a salary cap mess that could hinder the Devils growth moving forward.
