Fitzgerald himself confirmed<\/a> that he could have moved the money it would\u2019ve taken to acquire Hughes, which then begs the question, why in the world didn\u2019t he move the money?<\/p>\nThis is not a third-line winger we\u2019re talking about here. This is Quinn bleeping Hughes, a genuine superstar, the second-best defenseman in the world behind only Cale Makar. His play in the Olympics really helped clarify just how much he would\u2019ve meant to this organization. To me, the biggest of those micro reasons I mentioned earlier about why the Devils can\u2019t score goals is their complete lack of offensive talent from the blue line. Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec haven\u2019t developed the way we hoped thus far, Dougie Hamilton has lost a few steps, Brett Pesce is decent but far from great offensively, and Jonas Siegenthaler, Brenden Dillon, and Johnny Kovacevic are shockingly inept at creating offense. The Devils\u2019 defense is a unit that cannot move pucks and cannot sustain offense in the attacking zone. Adding roughly 23 minutes of Quinn Hughes every game would\u2019ve solved a lot of problems.<\/p>\n
Quinn alone is more valuable than any player on the Devils\u2019 roster, and yes that includes his brother Jack. If you have the opportunity to land a player of that caliber, you do it by any means necessary. But of course, Fitzgerald is scared of thinking outside the box. He doesn\u2019t have it in him to actually make a bold move, so instead of improving his team by leaps and bounds, he sat on his hands and let another GM embarrass him. Fitzgerald would rather take the \u201csafe\u201d, conventional route than do anything even remotely creative.<\/p>\n
And his fear cost the Devils the best defenseman they\u2019ve had since Scott Niedermayer.<\/p>\n
Before I go any further, I will say this: while I think getting Hughes to New Jersey would\u2019ve improved this team dramatically, the problems with this team run too deep for even the mighty Hughes to solve by himself. I think he could have lifted the Devils\u2019 offense into league-average territory, but that\u2019s about it. The rest of the blue line is far too inept at moving the puck or generating any sort of offense, and Sheldon Keefe\u2019s system chokes the life out of the offense anyway. So while nabbing Quinn might\u2019ve gotten New Jersey to the postseason, I don\u2019t know if, as currently constructed, they could\u2019ve made a deep run.<\/p>\n
But, again, this is Quinn Hughes. And it\u2019s not like he would\u2019ve been a rental either, as he has another year on his contract at a massive bargain for what he provides. Not to mention, of course, the idea would be that he wants to be here long term to play with his brothers. Even if he can\u2019t bring a Cup to New Jersey by himself in 2025-26, he\u2019s still worth the price of acquisition. Especially since, as mentioned, Fitzgerald claimed he could\u2019ve moved the money if he wanted to. That last point really is the key here. I think there\u2019s a reasonable chance that Fitzgerald lied about being able to move enough money to make himself look less foolish, but let\u2019s decide to believe him for a second. That would mean that Fitzgerald didn\u2019t want to give up the players and\/or draft picks it would\u2019ve taken to get Hughes. Yes, I am fully aware the Vancouver Canucks really wanted a big center prospect as the headliner in any trade package for Hughes, which New Jersey lacked thanks in no small part to Fitzgerald\u2019s incompetence. But even still, Fitzgerald absolutely could have cobbled together a package that could have beaten what Minnesota sent to Vancouver. New Jersey doesn\u2019t have a center prospect on the level of Marco Rossi (a player Fitzgerald refused to draft when he had the chance), but New Jersey does have Dawson Mercer, Cody Glass, Arseny Gritsyuk, and Lenni Hameenaho. As far as the big defenseman prospect the Canucks got, Zeev Buium, the Devils certainly could have come close to that with either Simon Nemec or Anton Silayev, or maybe even Seamus Casey. And of course, New Jersey has all sorts of first round draft picks to work with as well.<\/p>\n
That is more than enough trade ammo to acquire Quinn Hughes, no one can convince me otherwise. Even if Vancouver asked for Mercer, Gritsyuk, Nemec, and two first rounders, you do that trade every time for Quinn Hughes. Still not enough? Then throw in Silayev. Still not enough? Nice knowing you, Casey. I understand that eventually we would get to a point where the juice isn\u2019t worth the squeeze, but to me, that\u2019s only if we\u2019re talking about guys like Nico Hischier or Jesper Bratt. Otherwise, while I like all those players to varying degrees, and while I wouldn\u2019t want to part with multiple firsts, you still need to do it, because it\u2019s Quinn Hughes. And to anyone who says a trade such as Mercer, Gritsyuk, Nemec, Silayev, Casey and two first rounders is excessive, I would say that I understand, but I think you\u2019re underestimating how good Quinn Hughes in his prime at a hilariously low cap hit for multiple more seasons is. And I would also say you\u2019re probably overestimating most if not all of those guys. The odds that one of them turns into a really good player is high (I personally think Gritsyuk has the best chance of becoming that). But do you know who isn\u2019t a really good player? That would be Quinn Hughes, because he\u2019s not just a really good player, he\u2019s one of the best players in the world. You move heaven and earth to acquire him, especially if, as Fitzgerald himself said, the money is able to be moved.<\/p>\n
Ok, so that was a lot of words about how much damage I think Fitzgerald did to this organization by being a cowardly loser, which admittedly doesn\u2019t help us much right now. Yes it can be cathartic to bash Fitzgerald, but in the spirit of actually trying to be constructive, I will offer an action plan as to how this wrong can be righted. After all, if I\u2019m going to whine about something that\u2019s already done, I should try my best to offer a solution.<\/p>\n
My action plan is the simplest thing in the world: Try again this summer.<\/p>\n
Believe me, I am fully aware of how childish that might sound. Hughes still has one more year left on his deal, and Minnesota is a much better team than Vancouver. So this would not only make Hughes more inclined to want to be with the Wild next season and perhaps long term, it also means that Minnesota will probably be very reluctant to move him after the season anyway. So how does it help anyone to simply suggest the Devils should try again in the summer?<\/p>\n
Well the biggest thing, of course, is that I\u2019m working under the assumption that Tom Fitzgerald and Sheldon Keefe will be gone after the season. I know we all criticize Devils management for their perceived lack of care around this franchise, and I think a lot of that criticism is warranted. The fact that Fitzgerald and Keefe still have their jobs is proof enough that they care less than they should. Still, I simply cannot fathom these two men actually keeping their jobs past 2025-26. If they do, Gary Bettman might step in like Pete Rozelle did with the Giants back in the 80\u2019s or Adam Silver did with the 76er\u2019s last decade. I\u2019ll make the leap of faith that Fitzgerald and Keefe will be gone after the season comes to its merciful end.<\/p>\n
And if that happens, the Devils could position themselves to bring in some bold, creative decision-makers. Someone like New Jersey native Sunny Mehta, for example. It doesn\u2019t have to be exactly him, but he\u2019s probably the best avatar of the kind of leader the Devils need at this point. Meanwhile, this bold new front office can bring in a coach who, I don\u2019t know, actually knows it isn\u2019t the Dead Puck Era anymore and can actually craft a system that fits his team\u2019s strengths. Then this fresh leadership group can get to work jettisoning the dead weight off this roster, especially on the backend. They\u2019ll be left with a mess thanks to all the NMC\u2019s Fitzgerald would be leaving them with, but if Chris Drury can do it, anyone can.<\/p>\n
And once all that\u2019s done, you circle back to Quinn Hughes.<\/p>\n
I already made my point about how the Devils should have offered everything they can to the Canucks. They can still do that with the Wild. Since Minnesota is in more of a win-now place than Vancouver was, pieces like Mercer, Gritsyuk, and Nemec become even more appealing. Silayev and Hameenaho aren\u2019t far behind, and neither is Casey. Glass would provide solid center depth for them as well. Maybe Dougie Hamilton becomes an option too. And now that the season has spiraled out of control, a new asset has emerged: A premium first round pick in this summer\u2019s draft. As much as none of us wanted to be picking high in the draft, New Jersey is playing it\u2019s way into an easy top-1o pick, and maybe even a top-5 pick. Let\u2019s say they land at 7th overall. That would be one heck of an asset to be able to offer.<\/p>\n
Not to mention the fact that if I\u2019m the new GM, I\u2019m calling Bill Guerin day and night and impressing upon him that there is a terrific chance he loses Quinn for nothing after just one more season. I tell him that while Quinn might pay lip service to enjoying his time in Minnesota, the entire hockey world knows that he still wants to play with his brothers. Jack and Luke aren\u2019t going anywhere anytime soon, so we all know what that means. Additionally, between a potential Hughes extension and Kirill Kaprizov, can you really afford TWO $15m+ AAV contracts on your books? That\u2019s no way to build a team. I tell him that if you don\u2019t want to set your organization back to a massive degree, you\u2019ll do business with me now to at least reclaim some of the capital you lost when you traded for Hughes. Would it work? I don\u2019t know, but you need to plant the seed of doubt as early and often as possible that the Wild will not be able to keep Quinn. Heck, I know there are tampering rules, but to the extent you are legally able to, you also get Jack and Luke to tell Quinn how much things have changed in New Jersey, and how amazing it will be to play for the Devils in the years to come. It\u2019s all so sneaky and ruthless, but it\u2019s also doing whatever it (legally) takes to acquire a player that can alter a franchise. You have to take bold, creative steps to do that.<\/p>\n
So in the end, whoever is calling the shots in New Jersey this summer, they absolutely have to do everything in their power to trade for Quinn Hughes. A new, hopefully creative front office with a competent coaching staff would make the Devils a much more appealing destination for Hughes. Make it as difficult as possible for Quinn to not demand a trade to play with his brothers. Meanwhile, offer anything you have to in order to land him. As much as we complain about the Devils\u2019 roster and prospect pool, I still firmly believe they have enough to offer Minnesota to get it done, so long as they don\u2019t let cowardice stand in their way like Fitzgerald did. I don\u2019t care if it takes Mercer, Gritsyuk, Nemec, Silayev, and the Devils\u2019 first round pick in this coming draft, or even more. Do it. And finally, once the season ends, some of those onerous NMC\u2019s should become a little more easy to navigate. Players like Brenden Dillon and Dougie Hamilton should be easier to move, freeing up cap space and roster spots for Hughes.<\/p>\n
Tom Fitzgerald made a career-destroying decision to not seriously pursue Quinn Hughes. And he set his franchise back immeasurably as a result. Whoever comes next has a chance to right this wrong, and they must do it if the Devils want to win a Cup in the era of this core.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We already knew it before the Olympics, but these last two games right out of the break confirmed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5109],"tags":[201,26512,5,576,151,5185,5184,4,26513],"class_list":["post-475420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-jersey-devils","tag-devils","tag-devils-issues","tag-hockey","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-jersey-devils","tag-newjersey","tag-newjerseydevils","tag-nhl","tag-views-analysis"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116143679302028781","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}