Devils news: They should add Quinn Hughes with huge trade

Tom Fitzgerald wasn’t going to answer the question. To be fair, the Devils general manager couldn’t answer the question without getting fined for tampering, or even worse than putting the dent in his wallet, potentially getting his fan base’s hopes up and failing to deliver.

But, hey, we had to ask. This was not some pie-in-the-sky, only-in-fantasy-hockey trade rumor, after all. This was the leader of another team insinuating that his star player might want to wear the Devils uniform someday rather than stay on the franchise that drafted him in 2018.

This was Vancouver Canucks president Jim Rutherford speculating that Quinn Hughes, arguably the best defenseman in the NHL, wants to play with his brothers, current Devils stars Jack and Luke Hughes, in a comment that made all of Western Canada yell “WAIT, WHAT?!?” in unison.

Rutherford practically sent out invitations for a Hughes family reunion in New Jersey and whipped up the macaroni salad to boot. Quinn Hughes is signed through 2026-27 with the Canucks, but Rutherford knows he can’t let an elite player walk away in his prime for nothing — and that his value will never be higher.

The comments were, at the very least, an invitation for Fitzgerald to make an important phone call to Vancouver this offseason. If Quinn Hughes is going to end up on the Devils eventually, why not make it sooner than later?

Why not make it this summer?

“Well, I’m not going to speculate or comment on another team’s player,” Fitzgerald said when I asked him about Rutherfords comments, and he was laughing before I could finish the question. “You’d have to ask Jim, really, about the comment. For me, we’re going to evaluate our own team about where we need to upgrade things, and, um, again I can’t comment on a player.”

(Hey, he didn’t say no!)

Fitzgerald and head coach Sheldon Keefe met with the media on Thursday morning for the first time since the Devils season ended last week, and the pair walked that tightrope between expressing contentment with the team’s overall direction while making it clear that a quick first-round playoff loss to the Carolina Hurricanes was unacceptable.

This was the money quote from Fitzgerald: “We won’t be coming back with the same group, I can tell you that, because it wasn’t good enough.”

But it isn’t enough to tweak a talented-but-flawed roster, not given how far the Devils look from truly competing with the elite teams that are still contending for the Stanley Cup this spring. If anything, the past two seasons — especially the mediocre performances from this January on — should have proven to the Devils GM he needs to swing for the fences and make the kind of bold, win-now moves to push this team over the hump.

Acquiring the third Hughes brother certainly would fall on that list. Quinn Hughes, the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the league’s top defenseman, had 76 points (16 goals, 60 assists) in 68 games this season. He is still only 25, and advanced metrics support the idea that he is getting even better.

What would it take to pry him off the Canucks roster? In short, a lot — and the Devils should pay it. One report speculated that it would take forward Dawson Mercer, former No. 2 overall pick Simon Nemec, one of the organization’s top prospect and a first-round draft pick to get it done. If so, Fitzgerald should make that move, like, yesterday. The only untouchable Devil is captain Nico Hischier, who has established himself as one of the league’s best two-way centers.

Fitzgerald is discovering that building a playoff team is much easier than building a true contender. The fact that Jack Hughes, the team’s second-most important player, had his season end prematurely with an injury is a major concern that the GM can’t control. The fact that his team was undone this spring because of a glaring lack of scoring depth, however, is his fault.

With eight unrestricted free agents, Fitzgerald has another opportunity to remake this roster. Keefe boasted about “establishing a foundation to be a consistent contender in the playoffs,” but unless his boss has a good summer, it’s quite likely that the Devils end-of-season press briefing will take place in early May again.

Fitzgerald isn’t on the hot seat, not after signing a multiyear contract extension last January. But the Devils championship window is open now, and so far, that satisfying first-round playoff series victory over the Rangers in 2023 is the furthest they’ve advanced with this current core.

Quinn Hughes would get them closer. If Vancouver’s leadership wants to speculate about an eventual family reunion here in Jersey, then Fitzgerald should do everything in his power to make it happen sooner than later.

Devils news: They should add Quinn Hughes with huge trade — and as soon as possible

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