Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Wild are back on the ice tonight in St. Paul. It’s their second game back at Grand Casino Arena, following a two-week road trip they embarked on while the Wild’s home venue was being used for the IIHF World Juniors Tournament.
Fans are happy to have them back, but Monday’s game holds a much more intriguing storyline, centering around their opponent — the New Jersey Devils — and the two (not three) Hughes brothers on their roster.
That’s right, all three Hughes brothers — Quinn (Wild), Jack (Devils), Luke (Devils) — are in town and ready to compete in the third-ever “Hughes Bowl” tonight at the MN Wild’s recently renamed arena.
For the visiting Devils, however, the meeting in Minnesota will be bitter-sweet, at best. When it became apparent that Quinn was going to force his way out of Vancouver, the Devils thought they were about to host the “Hughes Bowl” in downtown Newark on a weekly basis.
The brothers have made no secrets of their goal to play together in the NHL and New Jersey already has two of them on roster. That’s why it started to feel like Quinn to the Devils was a foregone conclusion… until it wasn’t.
Minnesota Wild thriving w/Quinn Hughes, Devils reeling
Ultimately, it was Bill Guerin’s monster trade offer that finally allowed the Canucks to walk away from their drawn-out talks with the Devils, instead dealing one of the most valuable young assets in all of hockey to the Minnesota Wild.
Since then, Minnesota has gone 8-2-4 and the Wild are widely considered a top contender in the Western Conference, despite some drop-off in play, of late (2-1-3 in last six).
Meanwhile out East, the situation behind the scenes in the New Jersey Devils organization has curiously begun to crumble from the inside out, since Quinn was dealt to the Wild. On the ice, the Devils are 4-8-1, losers in eight of their last ten games and riding a four-game winless streak into Tuesday’s matchup vs Minnesota.
Off the ice, their messy situation only gets worse. It’s now been three weeks since the Quinn Hughes deal was finalized between the Wild and Canucks.
Yet, according to multiple reports from both national and local Devils reporters, it’s the team left out of the trade that has yet to recover. Last week, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman (The Athletic, SportsNet) reported that failing to land the third and final Hughes brother has “damaged [the Devils’] internal workings”.
Friedman on the #NJDevils (32TP): “It is very clear to me that the whole Quinn Hughes situation just damaged their internal workings, business got out, NTCs used, things like that and I don’t know how you fix that”
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) January 9, 2026
“For the Devils, it’s very clear to me that the whole Quinn Hughes situation just damaged their internal workings. Business got out, no trade clauses used, things like that. And I don’t know how you fix that.”
“When they didn’t get Quinn — when Quinn went to Minnesota instead of New Jersey — I think everybody knows who watches hockey that things really turned there.”
Reports since the trade have revealed that trade talks between the Devils and Canucks, for Quinn Hughes, had evolved far enough to where players in New Jersey were being asked to waive no trade clauses, in order to get a deal done.
Friction rising in New Jersey after failed Quinn Hughes trade attempt
One of the Devils players asked to waive his no-trade to go to Vancouver, I’m told, was Dougie Hamilton. That’s the second time the well-paid defenseman has used his no-trade list to thwart New Jersey’s plans to trade him. Per Friedman, he did the same thing over the summer, when San Jose tried to trade for him.
And months later, Hamilton’s use of the no-trade to stave off the Devils’ pursuit of Hughes, is what allowed the talented defenseman to land in Minnesota. Then, over the weekend, Hamilton was scratched from the lineup, raising even more questions.
So the New Jersey Devils come into Monday’s bout against the Minnesota Wild with friction throughout the organization, from the front office to the locker room. Oh, and Dougie Hamilton will return to the lineup.
NJ coach Sheldon Keefe announces Dougie Hamilton returns to the lineup tonight vs Minnesota
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 12, 2026
Think about it… players knew they were meant to be part of a Hughes deal that never happened because other teammates filibustered it with NTC’s. And now, there’s a huge mess in New Jersey — all of which was caused by one hockey family’s drive to play together and the Devil’s failure to make it happen.
So anyway, that is the current state of the Devils, entering tonight’s “Hughes Bowl” in St. Paul.
Mentioned in this article: Minnesota Wild New Jersey Devils Quinn Hughes
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