NHL Rumors: New Jersey Devils and Luke Hughes Still Need to Work Out a Deal

Luke Hughes is a top priority for the New Jersey Devils, but he remains without a deal

Bleacher Report Youtube: Frank Seravalli on New Jersey Devils restricted free agent defenseman Luke Hughes. What could his next contract look like?

** NHLRumors.com transcription

“We’ll start off with Luke Hughes. And we heard Tom Fitzgerald, the New Jersey Devils General Manager, say right as free agency was wrapping up that he had no bigger off season priority than getting Luke Hughes signed to a new deal.

Again, mid August, no deal has materialized yet. And I feel like this might be a little bit more of a difficult one, because with his brother, in number one overall pick, Jack Hughes, coming out of entry level, he signed that eight-year deal in relatively quick fashion. And I think at the time, the security is always massive. But to now look at Jack Hughes and see, with a 100-point season under his belt, how much that contract is underpaying him. Maybe Luke Hughes, on the back end, is incentivized to take a bit of a shorter-term deal, or perhaps a midterm deal.

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And these contracts that you see on the screen, here are projections from our friends at AFP Analytics, who have been spot on with a ton of contract evaluations and the market for the past few years now.

They’re putting Luke Hughes at six years times $8.4 million. Does that seem just right? Too high? too low? Is it fair? I’d say at first glance, this seems to be sort of right within that wheelhouse. It’s certainly going to feel expensive for the New Jersey Devils, but they’re going to have to figure it out, and they’re going to have to get these guys locked up.

I think the one big thing that the Devils have going for them is some leverage. They’ve got a guy who is obviously probably pretty happy playing with his brother in New Jersey. For a team that, under Shelton Keith, had a tough season last year, but I think has the makings to be a big bounce back team this upcoming season. He’s going to be a big part of that, and a pretty young back end to start.

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So, I like where New Jersey is heading. I think getting Luke Hughes signed is going to be absolutely critical, and we’re going to have to see where that number comes in at. I could also see that deal coming in a few years, less than six.”

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