[Gambatese] Devils Missing Out on Quinn Hughes is the Biggest Gaffe in Franchise History
February 3, 2026
[Gambatese] Devils Missing Out on Quinn Hughes is the Biggest Gaffe in Franchise History
20 comments
Ya but clearing out cap space wasn’t the issue since Fitz said so a month later
The Kovalchuk contract was pretty bad
Not getting Rob Niedermayer to secure Scott for life is what I would compare this to
Not being able to trade for rob niedermayer is still probably number 1 but this is gonna be up there if he doesn’t come here
And I doubt Quinn is coming “for free” at this point. Who TF wants to come to this shitshow?
I think we need to fire Fitz in hopes that Quinn does still come over.
Devils at least number one at something… maybe even one and two
I posted a graphic from ESPN about the impact Quinn has had on the Wild’s offense and it got taken down. Sad.
There are two parts of not getting Quinn that are negatively impacting us: first, not adding the 2nd best defenseman in the league to our team; second, the emotional blow that this had to the locker room. The second piece, in my opinion, is what has hurt us the most.
There are many in this sub who hate the Hughes brothers or at least don’t value them as much as I do. However, I really believe we have to get Quinn in order to salvage the organization’s relationship and credibility with Jack and Luke. I don’t know if it’s Fitz that hasn’t kept tight lips or if it’s someone else, but, regardless, they knew that the Devils were gunning for him. The let down that they experienced along with the drama that other players felt hearing rumors of being parts of a trade for Quinn has to have had the largest negative impact on this locker room over the past few years than anything else. I think the only way to fix it would be to get Quinn and move forward. These are my demands. Thank you.
Great article. I think he would’ve made a huge impact no doubt. It seems to have take a toll on Jack because between his injury and his play since he doesn’t seem to have that same bite to his game (or I could just be attributing to much to that). That being said, I think as the article states Minnesota was playoff bound before the trade. NJ was and is scuffling. So, the trade may have been the nail in the coffin but so many other issues in play with the organization. Hope they can figure it out and make the right adds and drops but I have cautious optimism about that with the current people in charge
this sub will never shut up about the same 3 topics
Missing out on Cale Makkar was a much bigger gaffe. This Hughes obsession for a talented but injury prone family is pathetic. They haven’t won one championship and do I need to remind you that 2/3 of them are on the shelf as we speak. Hughesless obsession.
This will probably be a wildly unpopular take as I am just as unhappy as everyone else in our position in the standings, but I’m okay with playing the long game here. It would have been a hefty price to get a player we could acquire for free in two years, and if we don’t get him for free in two years, than chances are we wouldn’t have been able to keep him and the price we paid would be wasted. If we did get him, and he walks we are staring at a full scale rebuild with the worst prospect pool in the NHL to build from, that’s too big of a risk, right now we have options and assets. It’s not the worst possible thing that could have happened to this franchise that’s just such a short sighted opinion imo
The end of your article summed it up very well. Missing out on Quinn is the final piece of the “Fitz fumble” package we’ve gotten ever since we had our greatest season in franchise history in 22-23, the culmination of every bad decision he’s made. Mercer, Nemec, Silayev plus a first should have been a no brainer decision for a game changer like Quinn
Was this take sponsored by Ilya Kovalchuk?
You guys desperate to give up pieces for someone we can get in free agency is insane.
LOL talk about hyperbole
Wasn’t the plan always to wait until he was a free agent anyway?
Hot take: we can have a winning team without Quinn Hughes
Don’t waste your time clicking on this guy’s daily garbage dumps.
Is it a “gaffe” if the devils don’t land him because another team put together a better trade offer?
You could argue that poor drafting resulted in not having the necessary assets, but it’s not clear to me that the devils draft worse on average compared to other teams (I haven’t seen anyone attempt a comparative analysis).
Minnesota is not comparable to the devils. They’re a much more mature team that’s solidly in the playoff picture. I don’t think we can look at Quinn’s impact on the wild (which has been tremendously positive) and conclude that the trade would have the same overall effect for the devils, even if Quinn were to succeed in NJ. Obviously, adding a top d man would help in certain ways, but the devils would have been required to give up plenty of depth to do so, and they already struggle with the effectiveness of their forward depth. We don’t know what pieces Vancouver would have ultimately demanded to go with the devils’ offer.
I’m disappointed Quinn didn’t end up a devil, but it seems far riskier for the devils to give up depth than it has been for the wild. We just don’t know what the effect would have been. From a fan’s perspective it’s frustrating to see him excel with another team, but I don’t know if we can conclude that this was the biggest gaffe in devils history (assuming that Fitz really could have cleared the cap space to make the trade).
I know he’s a great player, but I feel like the elephant in the room here is that people wanted nothing but to complete the Hughes collection like they’re limited edition action figures – if the price wasn’t worth it for us, so be it!
Hasn’t it been reported that Vancouver just straight up passed on our offer of Mercer, Nemec, and Silayev? They liked Minny’s offer better. It’s not rocket science and that was already a steep offer I wouldn’t want getting steeper
Everyone saying “who would want to come to this shitshow” seems to forget that he’s a human capable of making his own choices and may very well still decide to come here as a free agent
20 comments
Ya but clearing out cap space wasn’t the issue since Fitz said so a month later
The Kovalchuk contract was pretty bad
Not getting Rob Niedermayer to secure Scott for life is what I would compare this to
Not being able to trade for rob niedermayer is still probably number 1 but this is gonna be up there if he doesn’t come here
And I doubt Quinn is coming “for free” at this point. Who TF wants to come to this shitshow?
I think we need to fire Fitz in hopes that Quinn does still come over.
Devils at least number one at something… maybe even one and two
I posted a graphic from ESPN about the impact Quinn has had on the Wild’s offense and it got taken down. Sad.
There are two parts of not getting Quinn that are negatively impacting us: first, not adding the 2nd best defenseman in the league to our team; second, the emotional blow that this had to the locker room. The second piece, in my opinion, is what has hurt us the most.
There are many in this sub who hate the Hughes brothers or at least don’t value them as much as I do. However, I really believe we have to get Quinn in order to salvage the organization’s relationship and credibility with Jack and Luke. I don’t know if it’s Fitz that hasn’t kept tight lips or if it’s someone else, but, regardless, they knew that the Devils were gunning for him. The let down that they experienced along with the drama that other players felt hearing rumors of being parts of a trade for Quinn has to have had the largest negative impact on this locker room over the past few years than anything else. I think the only way to fix it would be to get Quinn and move forward. These are my demands. Thank you.
Great article. I think he would’ve made a huge impact no doubt. It seems to have take a toll on Jack because between his injury and his play since he doesn’t seem to have that same bite to his game (or I could just be attributing to much to that). That being said, I think as the article states Minnesota was playoff bound before the trade. NJ was and is scuffling. So, the trade may have been the nail in the coffin but so many other issues in play with the organization. Hope they can figure it out and make the right adds and drops but I have cautious optimism about that with the current people in charge
this sub will never shut up about the same 3 topics
Missing out on Cale Makkar was a much bigger gaffe. This Hughes obsession for a talented but injury prone family is pathetic. They haven’t won one championship and do I need to remind you that 2/3 of them are on the shelf as we speak. Hughesless obsession.
This will probably be a wildly unpopular take as I am just as unhappy as everyone else in our position in the standings, but I’m okay with playing the long game here. It would have been a hefty price to get a player we could acquire for free in two years, and if we don’t get him for free in two years, than chances are we wouldn’t have been able to keep him and the price we paid would be wasted. If we did get him, and he walks we are staring at a full scale rebuild with the worst prospect pool in the NHL to build from, that’s too big of a risk, right now we have options and assets. It’s not the worst possible thing that could have happened to this franchise that’s just such a short sighted opinion imo
The end of your article summed it up very well. Missing out on Quinn is the final piece of the “Fitz fumble” package we’ve gotten ever since we had our greatest season in franchise history in 22-23, the culmination of every bad decision he’s made. Mercer, Nemec, Silayev plus a first should have been a no brainer decision for a game changer like Quinn
Was this take sponsored by Ilya Kovalchuk?
You guys desperate to give up pieces for someone we can get in free agency is insane.
LOL talk about hyperbole
Wasn’t the plan always to wait until he was a free agent anyway?
Hot take: we can have a winning team without Quinn Hughes
Don’t waste your time clicking on this guy’s daily garbage dumps.
Is it a “gaffe” if the devils don’t land him because another team put together a better trade offer?
You could argue that poor drafting resulted in not having the necessary assets, but it’s not clear to me that the devils draft worse on average compared to other teams (I haven’t seen anyone attempt a comparative analysis).
Minnesota is not comparable to the devils. They’re a much more mature team that’s solidly in the playoff picture. I don’t think we can look at Quinn’s impact on the wild (which has been tremendously positive) and conclude that the trade would have the same overall effect for the devils, even if Quinn were to succeed in NJ. Obviously, adding a top d man would help in certain ways, but the devils would have been required to give up plenty of depth to do so, and they already struggle with the effectiveness of their forward depth. We don’t know what pieces Vancouver would have ultimately demanded to go with the devils’ offer.
I’m disappointed Quinn didn’t end up a devil, but it seems far riskier for the devils to give up depth than it has been for the wild. We just don’t know what the effect would have been. From a fan’s perspective it’s frustrating to see him excel with another team, but I don’t know if we can conclude that this was the biggest gaffe in devils history (assuming that Fitz really could have cleared the cap space to make the trade).
I know he’s a great player, but I feel like the elephant in the room here is that people wanted nothing but to complete the Hughes collection like they’re limited edition action figures – if the price wasn’t worth it for us, so be it!
Hasn’t it been reported that Vancouver just straight up passed on our offer of Mercer, Nemec, and Silayev? They liked Minny’s offer better. It’s not rocket science and that was already a steep offer I wouldn’t want getting steeper
Everyone saying “who would want to come to this shitshow” seems to forget that he’s a human capable of making his own choices and may very well still decide to come here as a free agent