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NHL Quinn Hughes Traded Elsa / Getty Images The Devils became part of the Quinn Hughes picture as soon as rumblings began that the star defenseman might not be long for Vancouver. His two younger brothers, Jack and Luke, play for New Jersey, and Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford did little to extinguish any rumors. He said in April that Quinn Hughes “wants to play with his brothers. ” Advertisement Well, Hughes is no longer a Canuck, but he’s not a Devil, either. The Minnesota Wild swung a blockbuster trade for him Friday evening, sending Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium and a 2026 first-round pick to Vancouver. It was a haul, and one New Jersey would not have been able to realistically match, especially given the Canucks’ desire to add a center capable of contributing. Rossi fit the bill. He had a 24-goal, 60-point season in 2024-25 and has 13 points in 17 games this season. Buium and Ohgren were on colleague Scott Wheeler’s Top 100 prospects list over the summer, with Buium — a 20-year-old left-shot defenseman who debuted in the playoffs last year — checking in at No. 5. Prospects like him aren’t traded unless a Hughes-level player is involved. Other teams were always going to get involved in trying to land a player of Hughes’ caliber, especially because he’s not a free agent until after the 2026-27 season. Even if he’s set on someday getting to New Jersey, the Wild will potentially get two postseason runs with him. New Jersey was in the Hughes sweepstakes and made what it felt was a strong offer, a league source said. It’s unclear exactly what that offer was, but the closest comparable package to the Wild’s bounty would have been young defenseman Šimon Nemec, forward Dawson Mercer — who can play both center and wing — another prospect and a first-round pick. Minnesota’s package was more attractive than that, plus Devils president of hockey operations Tom Fitzgerald would’ve had to make other moves to clear cap space for Hughes’ $7. 85 million average annual value cap hit. Realistically, the only way the Devils could have approached the Wild’s offer would have been including a player such as Jesper Bratt, who has a full no-movement clause, or captain Nico Hischier, who has a 10-team no-trade list, per Puck Pedia. Both of those players would have been non-starters for New Jersey. Advertisement Though they didn’t land Hughes, the Devils still gained something from the saga coming to an end: clarity. New Jersey is injury-riddled and in need of reinforcements as it drops in the standings. Now, Fitzgerald does not have to worry about preserving potential cap space or trade chips for a Hughes package. New Jersey’s list of absences is extensive. Jack Hughes has been out since November after hurting his finger in a “freak accident” at a team dinner. He has resumed skating but will still be out until after the holidays. Brett Pesce, the team’s best defensive defenseman, has been missing since Oct. 26 with an upper-body injury. He could be nearing a sorely-needed return, but still hasn’t been skating with the team. Johnathan Kovacevic (knee) has yet to play this season, free-agent addition Evgenii Dadonov has played only five games due to injuries, and Nemec got hurt at practice on Friday. Coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters his injury is “not day-to-day. ” Timo Meier is away from the team to tend to a family health matter, and rookie Arseny Gritsyuk is out with an upper-body injury. The injuries have caught up to New Jersey on the ice.  After a 12-4-1 start pre-Jack Hughes accident, the team now sits at 18-13-1 with a 4-1 win over the Ducks on Saturday.  It’s right in the clump of Metro Division teams jockeying for playoff position, and the Devils entered play Saturday out of a playoff spot. As the team struggles, Fitzgerald has been working the phones looking for upgrades. No moves have come to fruition, though perhaps the Hughes domino falling will help crystallize what New Jersey is able to do. The Devils’ biggest area of need is forward. If they make a trade, expect it to be to bolster that group. Fitzgerald has checked in on Nashville’s Ryan O’Reilly, and he’d be a solid fit. He could fill a top-six center role with Hughes out, then could move to the third line when he’s back. Hughes, Nico Hischier and O’Reilly would make for elite top-three centers. Prices, though, are not cheap right now. Struggling teams such as Nashville have no incentive to lower high asking prices with the March trade deadline still months away. It puts Fitzgerald in a bind: Does he risk overpayment to keep the team afloat? Or can he afford to ride it out until prices potentially drop? Advertisement Meanwhile, the team’s potential — though far from guaranteed — future with Quinn Hughes will have to wait. Hughes isn’t eligible to extend in Minnesota until July 1, and the Wild have no assurance that he will re-sign. Bill Guerin, their general manager, will be able to make a compelling case, especially if Minnesota performs well in the playoffs. Because Hughes is extension-eligible before the new collective bargaining agreement sets in Sept. 15, Minnesota is set to be the only team that can offer him an eight-year extension front-loaded with signing bonuses, as colleagues Michael Russo and Joe Smith wrote. Hughes’ long-term future will come down to what he wants, and that might be out of the Devils’ control. For now, New Jersey is a team with core pieces capable of winning, but one in need of full health or reinforcements — if not both. At least the Devils are no longer searching for clarity around one of the NHL’s biggest names, too. Peter Baugh is a staff writer for The Athletic NHL based in New York. He has previously been published in the Columbia Missourian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kansas City Star, Politico and the Washington Post. A St. Louis native, Peter graduated from the University of Missouri and previously covered the Missouri Tigers and the Colorado Avalanche for The Athletic. Follow Peter on Twitter @Peter_Baugh