Quinn Hughes is back in the news as he and the Minnesota Wild still haven’t agreed on a contract extension. Hughes, acquired in a blockbuster trade from the Vancouver Canucks last year, is currently set to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2026-27 campaign.
The situation, already a hot topic around the NHL, drew even more attention when the New Jersey Devils added star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets last week. The Devils have long been linked to the eldest Hughes brother, as they already have his two younger brothers, Jack and Luke, on their roster, and now have Hellebuyck, who was teammates with both Quinn and Jack on the 2026 Olympic champion Team USA.
NHL insider David Pagnotta,however, isn’t convinced the Devils can reunite all three Hughes brothers if Quinn decides not to extend with Minnesota. Instead, he thinks some “nearby” options could be a better fit for Hughes if he wants to test the open market.
“I’m still hesitant on Quinn Hughes,” Pagnotta said on Daily Faceoff Edmonton’s ON Everyday. “I know everybody wants the brother thing, and they’ve talked about it. I’m not fully sold. I think there are a couple of nearby options that I think he would consider. It may not be an immediate fit for New Jersey right now. But if you look at what they pulled off (with Connor Hellebuyck), if you get an opportunity to acquire this type of player, you’re going to try to do that.
“I think right now if you’re Bill Guerin, you’re going to Quinn, going, ‘Alright, buddy, we’re going to go out there and get Dylan Larkin. Are you staying or not? And if it’s a no, then it changes the decision process a little bit. Minnesota still wants that to happen. I still think they’re probably number one on his list.”
Realistically, the closest teams geographically to the Devils that Pagnotta could be referring to are all also in the Metropolitan Division: the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Washington Capitals. Among those teams, only the Capitals have reportedly sniffed around Hughes in the past, checking in on his availability before he was traded by the Canucks.
While the Capitals may be the only team on that short list to have reported past interest, PuckPedia also projects them to have the second-least cap space in the NHL next summer. That predicament would make it hard to fit a Hughes contract on their roster that will likely near the $20 million mark in average annual value against the cap.
The Penguins might be the best fit from a cap perspective, with over $58 million in projected space, the most in the league. They’re followed by the Islanders ($39.6 million), Rangers ($34 million), and then the Flyers (24.6 million). The Devils ($16.8 million) trail all of those teams, only having more projected space than the Capitals.
So far this season, Hughes has 16 points (3g, 13a) in 13 games for the Wild, ranking him second among NHL defensemen in scoring. With the Wild pursuing a Stanley Cup, it’s unlikely they’d trade Hughes, even if he doesn’t want to commit long-term to the club.
If Hughes extends with Minnesota, past reports suggest he prefers a shorter contract, with a rumored three-year deal making the most sense. The goal would be for Hughes to still be able to cash in on one final long-term deal when he hits his 30s after the deal in Minnesota expires.
