Devils, Luke Hughes “Still A Ways Apart” In Contract Talks
As the New Jersey Devils continue their training camp and play through their slate of preseason games, they do so without a notable name: Luke Hughes. Hughes remains a restricted free agent without a contract for this upcoming season, and today The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Hughes’ camp and the Devils remain “a ways apart” in their contract talks. LeBrun added that the two sides talked Monday and negotiations remain “amicable.” But while the two sides have agreed to pursue a long-term contract extension, the parties have not been able to agree on an AAV for that potential deal.
Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald had previously expressed optimism that the looming presence of the start of training camp would help move talks along and eventually lead to a signed contract, but that did not end up happening. It does appear, based on LeBrun’s reporting, that there has been some progress at least. Previous reports indicated that the Devils were looking to sign Hughes to a contract of either a two or eight-year term, whereas Hughes had his sights set on a five-year term that would walk him right to unrestricted free agent status. But according to LeBrun, the term of the contract is no longer the sticking point of the negotiation – it’s the value of the deal.
Hughes, 22, has had an exceptional start to his NHL career with two consecutive seasons of exemplary point production for a young defenseman. The 2021 fourth-overall pick had a 47-point rookie season, after which he finished third in Calder Trophy voting and with a spot on the league’s All-Rookie team. Hughes scored 44 points in 71 games in his second year in the NHL, and looks every bit like a future star offensive defenseman.
His defensive contributions are not as highly regarded, but he did lead all Devils defensemen in time-on-ice per game as a rookie (21:28) indicating coaches do have some genuine level of trust in his play, even if he’s not a true shutdown force.
The combination of Hughes’ young age and his already very strong NHL resume naturally means he’s likely looking to secure a significant financial commitment on any long-term deal, especially given how the salary cap is set to rise in coming seasons.
While there has been no firm reporting that this is the case, it’s possible Hughes and his representation (Pat Brisson of CAA) are approaching these deals with a heightened level of caution because of the long-term deal Luke’s brother Jack Hughes signed with New Jersey after his own. In late 2021, Hughes signed an eight-year deal carrying an $8MM AAV, and for much of that contract Hughes’ on-ice value has certainly exceeded that cap hit. It would be entirely fair to speculate that the immense surplus value the Devils continue to receive from Jack Hughes’ contract has led the Hughes camp to more aggressively price future years on any Luke Hughes extension.
AFP Analytics currently projects Hughes’ worth on an eight-year contract extension to be $8.386MM AAV. Such a contract would make Hughes the second-highest-paid Devils defenseman behind Dougie Hamilton, and it’s worth noting that per PuckPedia’s tracking, the Devils do not at this stage project to have the cap space to fit in such a cap hit.
In any case, this is not an overly encouraging development for the Devils. While it’s certainly a positive that the disagreement appears to be narrowed down to contract value, rather than both term and value, it remains less than ideal for Hughes to be missing so much of the team’s training camp. The Devils are set to compete in what is likely to be a fiercely contested Metropolitan Division, and it’s possible this delay impedes Hughes’ ability to get off to a fast start – and that’s assuming he ends up signing a deal in the preseason.
If he misses any regular-season time, the overall impact of Hughes’ absence would obviously be all the more pronounced. While Hamilton’s presence means the Devils don’t need to rely on Hughes exclusively to bring offensive punch to their blueline, the Devils are most definitely a weaker team without him.
While there’s no indication at this point that this contract standoff is set to last until then, it is important to note that an RFA must sign a contract by 5pm EST on December 1st, 2025 in order to be eligible to compete in the 2025-26 NHL season.
It remains extremely unlikely that this situation extends that far, though. Hughes is one of the Devils’ most important players, he’s the brother of the face of their franchise, and he’s one of the NHL’s top young blueliners. With stakes this high, it’s difficult to imagine both sides not coming to some sort of agreement before Hughes misses too much game action.
Photos courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Latest On Nico Daws
- With veterans Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen firmly entrenched as the New Jersey Devils’ starting and backup netminders, respectively, young goalie Nico Daws has become one of the names to watch in the preseason. The 24-year-old Swiss goalie is no longer exempt from waivers, and looks highly likely to end up exposed to all 31 other NHL clubs at some point in the preseason. As a result, the 2020 third-round pick’s preseason performances are particularly notable as he’s likely to be watched closely as a waiver claim option by teams in need of a goalie. To that end, Daws hasn’t had the strongest start to his preseason – he was tagged for four goals against on just 13 shots in his debut preseason appearance against the New York Rangers. Daws had a .939 save percentage in six NHL appearances in 2024-25 and had an .894 across 21 games in 2023-24. He’s a pending RFA with an $812.5K cap hit.
Devils Discussing Extension With Jacob Markstrom
After being speculatively linked to New Jersey for a big portion of the 2023-24 season, goaltender Jacob Markstrom accepted a trade to the Devils last summer a little before the draft with a first-round pick and defenseman Kevin Bahl going the other way. The netminder is now entering the final year of his contract and speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Tom Fitzgerald indicated that there are talks about signing Markstrom to a contract extension.
The 35-year-old had a decent first season with the Devils in 2024-25. While he dealt with a knee injury late in the year, he still got into 49 games where he posted a 2.50 GAA and a .900 SV% along with four shutouts. While those aren’t elite numbers, they were still a fair bit better than the 3.12 GAA and a .896 SV% that New Jersey’s netminders played to the year before so it’s understandable that Fitzgerald would like to keep that stability in the fold a little longer. Markstrom also stated a willingness to sign a new deal back in the spring after the team was eliminated in the first round.
Markstrom is set to make $6MM this season although the Devils are only responsible for $4.125MM of that with Calgary picking up the rest as part of the trade. In order to keep him around, they’ll likely have to give him a raise on his current full salary, given the inflationary rate of salaries.
While he’s no longer in the tier of netminders that have pushed past the $8MM mark on their respective deals in recent seasons, there’s a case to make that Markstrom could split the difference and land somewhere in the $7MM territory. That, coupled with the $1.8MM that Jake Allen will take home for the next half-decade, would allow them to have their goaltending tandem locked up at a reasonable combined rate.
The future of Nico Daws is in question now with Allen signed for so long, while their other prospects (Jakub Malek, Tyler Brennan, and Mikhail Yegorov) aren’t close to being NHL-ready (or even signed, in Yegorov’s case). Accordingly, getting Markstrom signed for another two or three seasons would give them continued short-term competitiveness between the pipes while allowing them ample time to assess if any of their prospects have a viable NHL future. This isn’t necessarily a pressing case, especially compared to unsigned defenseman Luke Hughes but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides work something out in the coming weeks.
New Jersey Devils Share Multiple Injury Updates
Before taking the ice for the first session of training camp, the New Jersey Devils shared several updates on absent players. Netminder Jacob Markström, defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic, forward Stefan Noesen, and prospects Shane Lachance and Lenni Hämeenaho were all absent from today’s skate.
Fortunately, Markström’s absence isn’t linked to an injury, as the Devils announced he’s dealing with a family matter. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Noesen and Kovacevic. As expected, New Jersey stated that Kovacevic is still recovering from offseason knee surgery and that he’s out indefinitely.
Meanwhile, Noesen continues to deal with a nagging groin issue, which required a procedure this summer. However, unlike Kovacevic’s timeline, the Devils didn’t indicate how long Noesen would miss or his status for the start of the regular season. Lachance and Hämeenaho were injured in the team’s rookie camp, though they’re each expected to begin the year with the AHL Utica Comets, regardless of their health status.
No Contract For Luke Hughes Expected Before Training Camp
By tomorrow, the negotiation stalemate between the New Jersey Devils and defenseman Luke Hughes will begin eating into the blueliner’s training camp availability. According to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, although both sides continue to discuss terms, no deal is anticipated before the Devils’ first practice tomorrow.
- Moving back to New Jersey, the Devils will no longer have all four players recently signed to professional tryout contracts at training camp. Earlier today, Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News reported that netminder Adam Scheel won’t participate in New Jersey’s training camp, claiming that he’s taken a separate opportunity elsewhere. There have been no reports indicating where Scheel has signed.
Evening Notes: Atlanta, Kane/Toews, Hughes Brothers
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke openly about the potential for an expansion team in Atlanta during a media availability on Tuesday. In it, Daly shared that the league hasn’t yet received a full proposal yet, per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. Wyshynski further points out that a group backed by Krause Sports and Entertainment has received approval on a $3B arena development in Forsyth County, Georgia. They are one of multiple groups vying for ownership over a potential Atlanta squad.
Notably, Daly also voiced support for the idea of expansion overall. He told Wyshynski that the NHL is “uniquely positioned” for more teams because of how deep the player pool has become. Daly pointed towards the growth of smaller hockey markets as evidence of that growth, and said that adding new teams would be no issue for the NHL. That’s a strong bode of confidence towards the idea of expansion, though it doesn’t seem the league isn’t growing any more roots just yet.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- Future Hall-of-Fame winger Patrick Kane spoke with Wynshynski about Jonathan Toews‘ return to the NHL. Kane called his former batterymate’s comeback a great story, and remarked that it’s been enjoyable to follow Toews’ return as the two still talk frequently. The conversation led to Kane, once again, receiving the question of whether he’d have interest in moving to his own hometown club, the Buffalo Sabres, in the same way that Toews chose to join the Winnipeg Jets. Kane batted away the question, instead affirming how much he’s enjoyed playing for the clubs he has already played for – including Detroit. He called the Red Wings a team on the rise, and the source of his career’s revival. Kane scored 21 goals and 59 points in 72 games with the Red Wings last season. It brought his total scoring with the club up to 106 points in 122 games – and his career-long scoring up to 1,343 points in 1,302 games.
- Top New Jersey Devils centerman Jack Hughes also caught attention for interview comments on Wednesday. While participating at the NHL Media Tour, Hughes said that he would love to have a chance to play with his brother Quinn, whether that been in New Jersey or not, per Thomas Drance of The Athletic. The storyline of if, and when, the Hughes brothers would reconnect has been a rich one all summer. They’re a close-knit trio of brothers, including youngest brother Luke, with two-thirds currently playing in the Devils organization. But acquiring Quinn would be a near-impossible task for Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald. Quinn is among the league’s best defensemen. He won the 2024 Norris Trophy, and finished last season as a Norris finalist. New Jersey – or, any team – would need to sell the farm to land Quinn. Luckily, he is roughly one month away from his 26th birthday, giving the Hughes brothers plenty of time to regroup with their oldest sibling before he’s past his prime yeras.
Aaron Dell Announces Retirement
Goaltender Aaron Dell announced his retirement late last night. The 36-year-old wrote on his Instagram page that he’s hanging up his skates after a lengthy professional career that included seven NHL seasons.
“After 13 seasons of professional hockey the time has come for me to hang up the skates and leave my playing days behind me,” Dell wrote. “I wanted to thank all of the people that believed in me and supported me throughout my career. Lots of ups and downs. An undrafted 6 foot tall goalie that was given a chance by the San Jose Sharks organization. When I look at some of the names I had the privilege of working with like Nabokov, Thornton, Pavelski, Marleau, Couture, Karlsson, Burns and so many great players that I will always consider friends, I feel very fortunate.”
The Alberta native began his pro career with the Central Hockey League’s Allen Americans in 2012 after a three-year stint at the University of North Dakota. He split the following season with ECHL Utah before formally joining the Sharks organization in 2014-15, landing a deal with their AHL affiliate at the time in Worcester. After he exploded for a .927 SV% in 26 games for the Woo Sharks down the stretch, Dell landed his first NHL contract and signed a two-way deal with San Jose.
He spent the following year back in the AHL, this time with the San Jose Barracuda, but won a spot on their opening night roster for 2016-17 as Martin Jones‘ backup. That began a four-year run for Dell as the Sharks’ primary No. 2 option, including a standout rookie season. He only made 17 starts and three relief appearances behind the workhorse Jones but was excellent when relied upon, posting a .931 SV% and 2.00 GAA with an 11-6-1 record in his first taste of NHL action.
That would end up being the peak for Dell, who was already 27 when he burst onto the scene. He remained a serviceable backup for the coming years and even cracked 30 starts in 2019-20, but by the time he hit free agency that fall amid the pandemic, his averages over his four years in San Jose were a .908 SV% and 2.76 GAA – right around league average for that period.
Dell’s play dipped after that. He signed with the Maple Leafs in 2020 but was claimed by the Devils off waivers before ever playing a game for them. In seven games as New Jersey’s No. 3 option in the shortened 2021 season, he only managed a .857 SV% and 4.14 GAA. From that point forward, he spent most of his time back in the AHL, although he did have brief stints back in the NHL with the Sabres in 2021-22 and a second go-around with the Sharks in 2022-23 as a call-up option. He spent most of 2023-24 on an AHL contract with the Ontario Reign but got an NHL deal from the Kings at the trade deadline to serve as an emergency recall option in the postseason.
Last season, Dell returned to the Sharks organization for a third time on an AHL deal with the Barracuda. He had an .890 SV% and a 3-3-3 record in 10 games for them and a .914 SV% and a 6-6-1 record in 13 games for their ECHL affiliate, the Wichita Thunder.
Dell put a pin in his playing career after recording a .905 SV%, 2.92 GAA, five shutouts, and a 50-50-13 record in 130 NHL appearances. He also had a .912 mark and 11 shutouts with a 70-57-20 record in 155 AHL games in parts of eight seasons.
We at Pro Hockey Rumors congratulate Dell on his career and wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.
Devils, Luke Hughes At An Impasse Regarding Contract Length
Aug. 30th: Speaking directly about the negotiations with Hughes in a recent interview with James Murphy of RG Media, Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald was quoted as saying, “Eventually, this will get done. The 11th hour is training camp. Right? A lot of times, a lot of the stuff doesn’t get done until the 11th hour. We’re hoping we can get something done here in quick fashion, and both sides are working hard at it; that’s for sure.”
Although he didn’t indicate that this was something that Hughes’ camp was directly threatening, Fitzgerald did acknowledge the possibility of a holdout, saying, “At the end of the day, when really the only leverage the player has at this point in their career is holding out, that stinks. I don’t think anyone wins, quite honestly, when that happens. So Pat and I are trying hard to get this thing to come to some common ground.”
Aug. 29th: Aside from Mason McTavish of the Anaheim Ducks, defenseman Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils is objectively the highest-profile restricted free agent remaining from this summer’s class. Unfortunately, according to Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com, Hughes is expected to remain an RFA unless heavy concessions are made on either side regarding the length of his next contract.
According to Novozinsky’s report, the Devils are focusing on either a two-year bridge deal or a longer-term eight-year extension for Hughes, while the defenseman is requesting a five-year contract. A five-year contract would walk Hughes into unrestricted free agency after the 2029-30 season, the same time that his brother, Jack Hughes, would also become a UFA.
That would only escalate the speculation this offseason regarding the brothers’ desire to play together at some point during their NHL careers. Still, the eldest brother, Quinn Hughes, would have already signed an extension with the Vancouver Canucks, or joined a different organization via free agency by that time.
Regardless of the contract length, New Jersey has some work to do regarding Hughes’ eventual salary. If the Devils acquiesce to Hughes’ contract length demands, it’s unrealistic to assume he would sign for a $6MM AAV, which would be the maximum salary the Devils could afford at the time being. Theoretically speaking, New Jersey can exceed the upper limit of the salary cap by 10% over the summer months, but it would only kick the can down the road to the start of the regular season.
That’s likely why the Devils are prioritizing a shorter-term bridge deal for Hughes, which will likely become the eventual compromise between the two sides. Hughes could pursue a three-year deal in a few years, aligning his request to become an unrestricted free agent with Jack’s timeframe. New Jersey would certainly like to keep both players in the Garden State throughout their careers, but their negotiating power will be significantly restricted once Luke becomes eligible for arbitration.
At any rate, the clock is ticking for both sides. Training camp is only a few weeks away, and this isn’t something that either side will want to drag into the regular season. Ultimately, one side will have to become flexible so that Hughes can start the year on time.
Bratt On Track In Recovery From Shoulder Surgery, Will Be Ready For Camp
- The agent for Devils winger Jesper Bratt, Joakim Persson, acknowledged to NJ Advance Media’s Ryan Novozinsky that Bratt will be ready for training camp next month. He underwent shoulder surgery after the playoffs after playing through a nagging issue for multiple seasons but the recovery appears to be fully on track. Despite the injury, Bratt had a career year last season, leading New Jersey in scoring with a career-high 88 points (21 goals and 67 assists) while chipping in with three points in their five playoff outings.
The Devils Looking To Take Next Step
- While the organization has taken several steps forward in recent seasons, the New Jersey Devils believe they are now ready to truly compete for the Stanley Cup. Per NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale, New Jersey assistant general manager Dan MacKinnon said, “To put it succinctly, it’s time to take another step.” MacKinnon acknowledged that injuries played a role down the stretch last season, which ended with a five-game, first-round loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Injuries last season included Jack Hughes missing the remainder of the year after undergoing shoulder surgery in March, as well as defensemen Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon going down in Game 1 of the playoffs. All three are expected to be ready to go to start next season, and the additions of veterans like Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov should only help the cause. “I think the one thing we were looking for is better 5-on-5 play, and you look at the goal totals of Brown and Dadonov, a majority come at 5-on-5,” said GM Tom Fitzgerald. “We feel we’ve definitely added to what we felt we needed in depth. But, again, you want players to level out and be consistent with their play from October to the end of the season.”