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Rangers Reassign Scott Morrow, Gabe Perreault

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As Monday’s opening night roster deadline nears, there are set to be some quite newsworthy demotions in the coming days. The Rangers made one this morning, assigning their top two prospects – defenseman Scott Morrow and winger Gabriel Perreault – to AHL Hartford, according to a team announcement.

Perreault and Morrow were the club’s No. 1 and No. 2-ranked prospects by NHL.com this summer. Neither were locks to make the opening night roster, but both were penciled into a good portion of projections at the beginning of camp.

In Perreault’s case, it’s likely a matter of top-six ice time not being available. Alexis Lafrenière has settled back into a top-line role alongside Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, as new head coach Mike Sullivan looks to jumpstart the former first-overall pick’s production after a down year in 2024-25. The Rangers’ second line has filled up too, with Mika Zibanejad shifting to wing on a more permanent basis and William Cuylle jumping into a left-wing spot beside him and J.T. Miller following his breakout year. New York would be understandably reluctant to risk stunting their most promising young forward’s development by starting him in third-line duties on a team without a ton of bottom-six depth, so he’ll instead look to play a starring role in Hartford to begin his professional career.

Perreault, 20, was the No. 23 overall pick in the 2023 draft and has spent the last two years with Boston College, tearing up the Hockey East conference with 108 points in 73 career NCAA games. He turned pro at the end of last year and got five games with the Blueshirts, although he didn’t get on the scoresheet.

His demotion leaves the Rangers with 15 forwards on their training camp roster and just one cut to make to get down to the 23-player limit by Monday’s deadline. There are two spots up for grabs, meaning the game of musical chairs will leave one of veteran Jonny Brodzinski, rookie Noah Laba, and PTO invite Conor Sheary without a spot. Laba faces the longest odds; he’s waiver-exempt and doesn’t stand much of a chance on the roster unless he usurps Juuso Pärssinen as the Blueshirts’ No. 3 center to open the season.

Morrow’s demotion also comes down to roster math. The 22-year-old righty has Adam Fox, William Borgen, and Braden Schneider ahead of him on that side of the depth chart, meaning he’d either be ticketed for long stretches in the press box or someone would need to shift to their off side to get him playing time. The latter never happened in camp, so he’ll now head to the Wolf Pack to serve as their presumptive No. 1 defenseman until another NHL opportunity comes.

A 2021 second-round pick by the Hurricanes, the offensive-minded Morrow recorded six points in 16 NHL games with Carolina over the last two seasons. He was the headlining piece of the return the Rangers received from the Canes in the K’Andre Miller sign-and-trade this offseason. He had a 13-26–39 scoring line in 52 AHL games last year and will look to build on that in Hartford.

With Morrow gone, seven defensemen remain on the Rangers’ roster. That’s their likely opening-night contingent, meaning Matthew Robertson has all but locked up his first opening-night NHL job. The 6’4″ lefty was a second-round pick in 2019, but the 24-year-old only has bottom-pairing ceiling at this stage of his development. That means a No. 7 role is far less harmful to his development than Morrow’s. Robertson made his NHL debut for New York in a two-game call-up last season and is coming off a career-best offensive campaign in Hartford, where he logged a 1-24–25 scoring line in 60 games with a -5 rating.

Lightning “Quietly Extended” Jon Cooper This Offseason

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Coaches on expiring contracts have been angling for new deals ahead of the regular season. Up in Alberta, the Flames’ Ryan Huska and the Oilers’ Kris Knoblauch have both signed multi-year extensions this week.

One name who won’t be the subject of an upcoming announcement is Lightning bench boss Jon Cooper. That’s because he put pen to paper on an extension with the Bolts over the offseason without a team announcement, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports. It’s unclear how many seasons his new deal covers, but the 2025-26 campaign won’t be his last with Tampa, barring a surprising collapse.

It’s the second extension Cooper has signed in as many years. His previous deal was set to expire following last season, but he inked a one-year extension in May 2024. This one is of more importance, quieting brief speculation from earlier in the summer that Cooper might have wanted an option for a quick out, explaining why he only signed a one-year deal last year. His relationship with Mammoth owner Ryan Smith led to rumors that Utah may be his next stop. That may still be the case a few years down the road, but for now, Tampa will remain the only NHL home Cooper’s ever known.

Cooper is a unicorn in today’s NHL. As the league-average coaching tenure dips below three seasons, Cooper enters his 14th season as the Lightning’s head coach, having taken over for Guy Boucher in the 2012-13 season. His resume speaks for itself – four conference champions, two Stanley Cup championships, and a 572-306-83 (.638) regular-season record. This year will mark his 1,000th NHL game as a head coach, and at the end of the year, he’ll sit fourth all-time on the list of most games coached with a single franchise. His number will be 1,043 in April 2026, trailing only Barry Trotz’s 1,196 games with the Predators, Lindy Ruff’s 1,247 games with the Sabres, and Al Arbour’s 1,500 games with the Islanders.

Yet after three consecutive first-round losses, there was a small fire burning under his seat. Today’s news should extinguish it. There’s a multitude of reasons for optimism in Florida’s more northerly NHL market this year, boasting a deeper forward group than they’ve been working with for the past couple of seasons.

That leaves Ruff in Buffalo as the only coach on an expiring contract entering the campaign, LeBrun reports.

Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.

Oilers Sign Kris Knoblauch To Three-Year Extension

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The Oilers and head coach Kris Knoblauch have agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension, per a team announcement. Darren Dreger of TSN was the first to report it.

Dreger confirmed last month that Knoblauch was entering the final season of his current deal. There was no firm extension offer on the table at that time, but things evidently moved quickly and smoothly over the last two weeks. General manager Stan Bowman said Wednesday that talks were productive, with no speed bumps.

So continues a dominant run for Knoblauch, who was brought in early in the 2023-24 season to replace Jay Woodcroft after a slow start. Edmonton has a 94-47-10 record in the 151 games since Knoblauch took over, making his .656 points percentage the best in franchise history – including the club’s WHA days. He’s the first coach since Hall-of-Famer Scotty Bowman to reach the Stanley Cup Final in each of his first two seasons behind the bench, something Bowman achieved in the early days of the expansion era with the Blues in three straight years from 1968-70.

He, of course, benefits from the Western Conference’s most star-studded skater core led by Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard. The group had extensive regular-season success under previous bench bosses Woodcroft and Dave Tippett, but they didn’t manage to win a game past the second round until Knoblauch took the helm. Edmonton’s only previous Conference Final appearance of the McDavid/Draisaitl era, 2022 under Woodcroft, resulted in a sweep at the hands of the Avalanche.

With playoff success and long-term organizational stability being key to an extension for McDavid, a pending UFA, it’s no surprise the Oilers are moving quickly to secure Knoblauch’s future beyond this season, in the hopes that McDavid will follow suit soon. It was widely believed that McDavid influenced Knoblauch’s hiring two years ago, having played for him in his junior days with the OHL’s Erie Otters.

While Knoblauch has yet to add any NHL honors to his trophy case aside from Edmonton’s two conference championships, he’s been recognized individually during his time at the minor-league and junior levels. He was named the OHL’s Coach of the Year with Erie in 2015-16, despite not having McDavid’s help, and he was also invited to coach at the AHL All-Star Game while with the Hartford Wolf Pack in 2019-20.

Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports.

Ducks Sign Jackson LaCombe To Max-Term Extension

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The Ducks have handed out the largest total-value contract in franchise history to pending RFA defenseman Jackson LaCombe, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. It’s an eight-year deal worth $9MM per season for a sum of $72MM. The contract is paid out entirely in base salary with no year-to-year variation, per PuckPedia. It includes a full no-trade clause from 2028-31, a 15-team no-trade clause from 2031-33, and a 10-team no-trade clause in the final year of the deal in 2033-34.

It’s an astronomical pay bump for the 24-year-old, who emerged as Anaheim’s No. 1 defenseman just last season. LaCombe, a 2019 second-round pick, signed a two-year deal as an RFA following his rookie season in 2023-24 that pays him $1.85MM in total – one-fifth of what he’ll be making per year on his new deal. He’s entering the final year of that deal, which costs $925K against the cap and would have left him arbitration-eligible next summer.

LaCombe’s emergence wasn’t entirely out of nowhere – he’d been viewed as a higher-end prospect for quite some time – but it was a more explosive breakout than most expected after his rookie campaign fell flat. Coming off four years with the University of Minnesota, LaCombe turned pro in 2023 and broke camp with the Ducks the following fall.

Anaheim was bullish on the three-time Big 10 All-Star, and he spent most of the year in a top-pairing role alongside Cam Fowler. The duo really struggled to control play, though, even for the Ducks’ lowered standards as one of the league’s worst defensive squads. Averaging 19:23 per game, LaCombe had 17 points and a -24 rating in 71 appearances. In 55 games where he was paired with Fowler, they controlled just 39.5% of expected goals – the worst mark of Anaheim’s seven D pairings to log more than 150 minutes together that year, according to MoneyPuck.

LaCombe’s chemistry was much better in more limited usage with captain Radko Gudas on his right side. The Ducks took note of that and made that their new top pairing heading into 2024-25, a move that was only solidified when Fowler was dealt to the Blues a couple of months into the campaign. LaCombe flourished, getting an ice time bump to 22:18 per game while recording a 14-29–43 scoring line in 75 games, posting an even rating on a team with a -44 goal differential to boot. His 49.1% Corsi share at even strength led Ducks defenders, as did all of his offensive metrics.

League-wide, LaCombe quietly moved into consideration as a top-25 rearguard. His 33 even-strength points were tied for 18th, and his 0.57 points per game were 27th – above other established No. 1 guys like Drew Doughty, Colton Parayko, Moritz Seider, and even Miro Heiskanen.

The lack of sample size as a No. 1 will be cause for concern. Still, as the salary cap sharply increases, a $9MM AAV falls more into the “top-pair” category for defenders than “true No. 1.” It’s a matching cap hit to Devils rearguard Luke Hughes, who signed a new deal yesterday after posting comparable offensive stats last year. While there’s some sticker shock compared to what his extension projection would have been at the beginning of the offseason, it’s an in-line response to the recent spike in market values for premier defensemen.

Getting LaCombe’s contract done now is an important piece of business for general manager Pat Verbeek, who still has four other high-profile pending RFAs to contend with. Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger are all entering the final years of their entry-level contracts. LaCombe was likely the highest-priority target as the only one of the group who had enough professional experience to qualify for arbitration.

The Ducks now have LaCombe, Lukáš Dostál, Mason McTavish, and Troy Terry signed through at least 2030 as their new core continues to take shape. The club still has over $40MM in cap space to burn and 10 open active roster spots for 2026-27, according to PuckPedia.

Image courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.

Bryan Rust Out Two Weeks Due To Undisclosed Injury

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Penguins winger Bryan Rust will be sidelined for the start of the regular season after sustaining an undisclosed injury in practice on Wednesday, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He’ll miss at least two weeks, with his earliest return date set for Oct. 16 against the Kings. That’s a minimum absence of four games. He will be eligible for an injured reserve placement when opening night rosters are due.

Any trade talks that may still be ongoing for the top-six forward will now take a brief pause. Coming off the first 30-goal, 60-point season of his career, the 33-year-old Rust was in trade rumors all offseason long as the Penguins descended deeper into rebuild territory. Like fellow trade candidates Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell, though, he’ll be remaining with the organization to begin the regular season.

With on-ice expectations for the Penguins quite low this season, at least externally, the primary impact of Rust’s absence lies not with his missing offense, but with Pittsburgh’s opening night roster composition. Stashing Rust on IR for a week or two will allow general manager Kyle Dubas to punt some tough decisions for the final few roster spots down the road. The club has multiple young talents at both forward and defense looking to break camp, and leaving Rust off the 23-man limit will make life easier for some of them.

In fact, Rust’s injury could be the final straw for the Pens to decide to give No. 11 overall pick Benjamin Kindel a nine-game trial before returning him to WHL Calgary. Some viewed the 5’11” winger as a reach on draft day in June, but he’s averaged over 17 minutes per game in five preseason contests while registering a goal and an assist. If not him, Rust’s absence could be a pathway for a name like Filip Hallander or Samuel Poulin to avoid waivers, at least for a few extra days.

Still, Rust’s injury brings the Penguins to three forwards on IR to begin the season who would otherwise be opening-night likelies or locks. Veteran Kevin Hayes was shut down at the beginning of camp and isn’t expected back until late October, while top prospect Rutger McGroarty is out indefinitely with an upper-body issue.

Flames Sign Ryan Huska To Two-Year Extension

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The Flames have signed head coach Ryan Huska to a two-year contract extension, per a team release Thursday. He was entering the final year of his current deal and is now signed through the 2027-28 season, Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960 reports.

Huska is entering his third season as Calgary’s bench boss, but his tenure with the organization dates back more than a decade. He joined the AHL’s Adirondack Flames as their head coach for the 2014-15 season, his first coaching job in the pros after a lengthy run with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets as an assistant and head coach that spanned 12 years. He spent one year in Adirondack before the Flames moved their top affiliate closer to home to Stockton, California, where he served as the head coach of the Stockton Heat for their first three seasons. He was then promoted to the Flames’ NHL bench as an assistant, a position he held from 2018 to 2023, before being elevated once again to his current role.

The 50-year-old replaced Darryl Sutter, who was fired after the team missed the playoffs in 2022-23 despite winning a Pacific Division title the year prior. Sutter was the third head coach Huska has worked under in Calgary, a list that included Bill Peters and Geoff Ward.

Calgary has yet to make it back to the playoffs under Huska, but that’s more attributable to their status as a retooler than a coaching failure. His two-year sample is limited, but he’s notably guided a recent first-round pick to a breakout season despite an underwhelming forward group on both occasions. It was Connor Zary in 2023-24, who finished eighth in Calder Trophy voting after registering a 14-20–34 scoring line in 63 appearances following an early-season callup from the minors. This past year saw Matthew Coronato get the same treatment. He finished third on the team in goals (24) and points (47) in 77 games while stepping into an everyday top-six role, averaging north of 17 minutes per game.

The upcoming season could see Huska oversee the NHL transition for another pillar of Calgary’s future – defenseman Zayne Parekh. The 2024 ninth overall selection is ticketed for an opening-night job after a raucous major junior career that saw him lead the OHL in scoring among defensemen in back-to-back years, including an incredible 33-74–107 line in 61 showings for the Saginaw Spirit last year.

Huska enters Year 3 with Dan Lambert and Cail MacLean serving as assistants, as they have since he took over head coaching duties. He’ll have a new third assistant for the third straight year, though – after Brad Larsen replaced the one-and-done Marc Savard for 2024-25, ex-Flames winger Dave Lowry now steps in after Larsen departed the club for family reasons.

Image courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.

Panthers Sign Niko Mikkola To Max-Term Extension

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The Panthers have reached an agreement with defenseman Niko Mikkola on a max-term, eight-year extension, per a team announcement Thursday. It carries a cap hit of $5MM for a total value of $40MM, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports. He was ticketed for unrestricted free agency next summer. His new deal now carries him through the 2033-34 campaign.

Mikkola will only earn $1MM in base salary in each season of the deal, according to PuckPedia. The other $32MM will be paid via signing bonuses. He will land $5.5MM bonus checks in 2026 and 2027, $5.2MM in 2028, $4MM in 2029, $3.1MM in 2030, and $2.9MM from 2031-33. The contract carries a no-movement clause from 2026-27 to 2030-31, downgrading to a 20-team no-trade clause for 2031-32 and a 16-team no-trade clause for 2032-33 and 2033-34. The low base salary creates tax advantages for Mikkola, as well as making a buyout near the end of the contract a disadvantageous maneuver for Florida.

Mikkola, 29, will cash in with the biggest deal of his career after breaking out as a legitimate top-four threat in Florida. He signed a three-year, $7.5MM contract with the Cats in free agency in 2023. He’s in the final year of that deal now, which carries a bargain $2.5MM cap hit. At the time, it was a somewhat risky bet for a player who had demonstrated fine defensive skills but little to no offensive utility in his platform year, recording just six points in 81 games split between the Blues and Rangers.

However, Mikkola quickly proved not to be a drag when deployed as a stabilizing partner for Florida’s top offensive threat on the blue line – first Brandon Montour in 2023-24, then Seth Jones after the Panthers acquired him from the Blackhawks at last year’s trade deadline. The 6’6″, 204-lb lefty has averaged over 20 minutes per game in both of his seasons in Sunrise, logging a 9-30–39 scoring line with a +23 rating in 158 appearances from 2023-25.

His calling card is still that of a prototypical hard-nosed, shutdown defender, just one with enough offensive utility to maintain being a net positive in a top-four role and not drag down a puck-moving partner’s impact. No Florida defender is more physically involved in the game than Mikkola, who had 88 blocks and 137 hits last year. He would have led the team in the former had he not missed a handful of games with an upper-body injury. Those numbers were still down from 2023-24, when he led the team in both blocks (124) and hits (198).

Oftentimes, a player recording high block/hit totals is a good indicator of individual defensive skills that don’t translate to tangible possession impacts. That’s not the case with Mikkola, who, despite having negative relative Corsi impacts over his two years in Florida, has still managed to control 53.2% of expected goals at even strength, losing the quantity battle but winning the quality one.

With Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, and Jones all signed through at least 2030, Mikkola was the only long-term question mark in a top-four group that’s helped fuel the Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. Even bottom-pairing veteran Dmitry Kulikov is signed through 2027-28, leaving the Cats with very little expected movement among their defense corps over the next few years. Eleven skaters – nearly half of their active roster – are now signed through at least the end of the decade, an unmatched amount of long-term commitment anywhere else in the league.

That’s great news for the Panthers, who have no blue-chip prospects in the organization after graduating Mackie Samoskevich to full-time NHL duties. Their top prospect from an already league-worst pool, winger Justin Sourdif, was traded to the Capitals over the offseason. There are still a couple of intriguing forwards in the system, but the same can’t be said for their defense group – led by the team’s new No. 1 prospect according to NHL.com, 2024 third-round pick Matvei Shuravin, who isn’t expected to make an NHL impact for another few years and likely won’t peak above a bottom-pairing option if he does.

Mikkola was one of two big-name pending UFAs in Florida, the other being starting netminder Sergei Bobrovsky. Getting one done before the start of the regular season only opens up more resources and financial stability to aid in smoothing over negotiations with the other.

Image courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.

Emily Kaplan of ESPN was first to report the two sides were close on a long-term deal.

Erik Johnson Announces Retirement

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The former first-overall pick of the 2006 NHL Draft has hung up his skates after 17 seasons in the NHL. According to an announcement from the Colorado Avalanche, defenseman Erik Johnson has retired.

Although the Bloomington, MN native spent much of his career in Denver, that’s not where it began. He was originally drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 2006 and joined the team for the 2007-08 season after one year at the University of Minnesota.

Despite finishing 12th in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy, Johnson had a quality first year in St. Louis, scoring five goals and 33 points in 69 games, averaging 18:11 of ice time per game. It became clear that the Blues could confidently play Johnson in their top four, but his development and role with the team changed significantly the following season. Just three days into training camp, the following season, it was revealed that Johnson tore his ACL and MCL, costing him the entire 2008-09 season.

Still, the then-21-year-old returned for his junior season, scoring 10 goals and 39 points in 79 games, averaging 21:22 of ice time per game. Unfortunately, the Blues failed to make the postseason due to a lack of scoring from their top six, after qualifying the year before. Regardless, the team extended Johnson to a two-year, $5.2MM pact, as well as making him one of the team’s assistant captains for the 2010-11 campaign.

Another knee injury would cost him the rest of his tenure in St. Louis. The Blues traded Johnson to the Avalanche in mid-February, with Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk being the two main pieces going back to St. Louis. He would not wear another jersey for the next 13 years.

From the 2010-11 season to the 2022-23 campaign, Johnson was a mainstay on the Avalanche’s blue line. Even through some truly punishing seasons in Denver, Johnson stuck it out, winning a Stanley Cup with the team in 2022.

He didn’t add much on the offensive side of the puck with Colorado, scoring 65 goals and 236 points in 695 games from 2011 to 2023. Still, he was more than effective on the defensive side of the puck, averaging a 91.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength while averaging more than 21 minutes of ice time per night.

As his usage decreased through the latter part of his career with the Avalanche, Johnson opted to leave as a free agent following the 2022-23 campaign, signing a one-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres. He was subsequently traded to the Philadelphia Flyers at the 2023-24 deadline, sticking around until the 2024-25 deadline when he was moved back to Colorado.

Throughout his 17-year career, Johnson finished with 95 goals and 348 points in 1,023 games played, with an additional five goals and 13 points in 58 postseason contests. Outside of having his name engraved on the Stanley Cup, Johnson also owns an Olympic Silver Medal from the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

In the announcement from the Avalanche, Johnson wrote, “To the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers and most of all the Colorado Avalanche: thank you for the opportunities and memories, especially the 2022 Stanley Cup. To my teammates, coaches, and staff: your support, camaraderie, and dedication shaped my career. To the fans: your passion made every moment unforgettable. To my family and friends: your unconditional love and support carried me through. Hockey has been my life, and I’m grateful for every second. I’m excited for what’s next and will always cherish this journey.”

We at PHR congratulate Johnson on an incredible career and wish him the best in his next chapter.

Photo courtesy of Tom Szczerbowski-Imagn Images. 

Edmonton Oilers Acquire Connor Ingram

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After clearing waivers last week, netminder Connor Ingram is headed north. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Utah Mammoth are trading Ingram to the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers subsequently announced the trade, confirming they are acquiring Ingram for future considerations and that the Mammoth will retain $800K of his $1.95MM salary.

Given that Ingram was exposed on the waiver wire a few days ago, it was surprising that the Oilers waited until now to make a trade. However, with Utah lowering Edmonton’s financial burden to $1.15MM for the 2025-26 season, the trade becomes more understandable. The Oilers can now send Ingram to their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, while being able to bury his full salary until they may need him during the regular season.

Still, there are some question marks on exactly what version of Ingram the Oilers are getting. From the 2022-23 season to 2023-24, Ingram was excellent for the Arizona Coyotes as a backup and the starter, managing a 29-34-11 record in 77 games with a .907 SV% and 3.08 GAA, with a respectable 8.1 Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA).

Unfortunately, after the Coyotes closed their doors and Ingram joined the new Utah Hockey Club, his production cratered. Last season, he earned a 9-8-4 record in 22 games with a .882 SV% and 3.27 GAA, including a dismal -10.1 GSAA. He decided to leave the team in early March to enter the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, and he was not cleared until late August.

Shortly before training camp, the Mammoth shared their intentions of placing Ingram on waivers, allowing him a fresh start to his career. He’ll now get that opportunity in AHL Bakersfield, and potentially the Oilers at some point during the regular season.

For better or for worse, Edmonton appears adamant on leaving Stuart Skinner in the starter’s crease for the 2025-26 campaign, with Calvin Pickard as his backup. Still, should Ingram regain his form with the Condors, the Oilers shouldn’t have any hesitation giving him a look at the NHL level. Last year, Skinner and Pickard combined for a .897 SV% throughout the regular season, and a .888 SV% in the postseason, despite the Oilers reaching the Stanley Cup Final for a second consecutive year.

Devils Sign Luke Hughes To Seven-Year Contract

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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the New Jersey Devils are closing in on a seven-year, $63MM contract with their lone remaining restricted free agent, Luke Hughes. The Devils quickly confirmed the contract, also sharing that Hughes will join the team for practice tomorrow.

Shortly after New Jersey’s confirmation, PuckPedia announced Hughes’ contract details:

  • Year 1: $8MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
  • Year 2: $8MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
  • Year 3: $9MM salary
  • Year 4: $9MM salary
  • Year 5: $9MM salary
  • Year 6: $9MM salary, 10-team no-trade clause
  • Year 7: $9MM salary, 10-team no-trade clause

After forward Mason McTavish agreed to a six-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, the contract dispute between Hughes and New Jersey became the longest one from the offseason. Recently, there was concern that the standoff might prevent Hughes from starting the year on time. After this morning’s announcement, we know that won’t be the case.

The $9MM AAV will tie Hughes with Dougie Hamilton as the highest-paid player on the Devils. Additionally, the seven-year deal makes Hughes the only player on the team signed beyond the 2030-31 NHL season.

Most importantly, it’ll take Hughes through most of the prime years of his career. He’ll have the opportunity for another payday upon the deal’s expiration after turning 29 years old, though the Devils will reap all the benefits from his age-22 to age-28 seasons.

Over the past two years, similarly to his brothers Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes, Luke has shown a keen ability to move the puck and generate offense. Since the beginning of the 2023-24 season, the former fourth-overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft has scored 16 goals and 91 points in 153 games, with four goals and 41 of those points coming on New Jersey’s power play. A gradual introduction to the NHL was unnecessary for the offensive-minded defenseman, as Hughes is already averaging more than 21 minutes of action a night.

Still, the Devils will hope for some maturity on the defensive side of the puck as he progresses through his career. Despite averaging a 54.3% CorsiFor% at even strength, Hughes’ 88.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength leaves much to be desired. Still, New Jersey has offset most of Hughes’ defensive shortcomings by placing him next to Brett Pesce, who’s been one of the most defensively acute blue liners for the past decade. The pair combined for a 53.1% xGoals% last season, according to MoneyPuck.

The Devils still have some work to do with their available salary cap space. The team is expected to place defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic ($4MM AAV) on long-term injured reserve to start the 2025-26 campaign, who is recovering from offseason knee surgery. As James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now points out, the Devils will only save approximately $3.8MM of Kovacevic’s salary per the new rules of the CBA, projecting them $183K over the upper limit to start the season.

That financial gap is more than manageable, and it’ll give New Jersey time to work out a larger cap-clearing deal. The two likeliest candidates are Hamilton and Ondrej Palat, though both have limited no-movement and no-trade protection in their contracts. Still, by having Hughes in the mix for the next seven years, the Devils are in a much better position than they were yesterday.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images. 

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