The New Jersey Devils contract negotiations with Luke Hughes just got a bit more interesting.
Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com put out an article today that stated that Luke’s camp was looking for a 5 year deal, which would make him and Jack become Free Agents at the same time.
Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes both becoming Free Agents together? This can not happen…
You can see the article below:
https://www.nj.com/devils/2025/08/how-slow-nhl-offseason-is-affecting-devils-luke-hughes-extension-talks.html
NJ Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald certainly has his work cut out for him with his one.
I discuss this whole saga in this video.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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42 Comments
About a month ago I commented on one of your videos that I felt Luke would sign a bridge deal and then leave with Jack to Vancouver to join Quinn. You said it would never happen and someone even laughed at me and suggested I was drunk…..now that's a possibility and honestly I believe they don't want to be in Jersey because ownership has no commitment to winning. Hope I'm wrong…..
Fitzgerald has the IQ of a salad bar, but even a salad bar wouldn’t be dumb enough to give Luke a 5 year deal 🤦🏼♂️ #LGD
Stop the doomsday attitude. Defense here is special, period. Luke will be locked up and Quinn is going to wind up here as well in two years if not sooner. Key is going to be keeping their contracts separate as you said.
Keep the faith ace
Devils want Luke to sign for 8 years so that when Jacks deal expires in 5 years, they will have leverage to have Jack stay where Luke is. The Hughes duo appear to be like the Sedins, they are a package deal. Smart move by Luke’s camp, this gives the Devils ownership five years to get things together and become a real contender or they are both gone. Luke signing for 8 would continue the ownerships ability to just be mediocre, knowing they could rope Jack in again no matter what. Now ownership and GM need to prove they want to win and if not the Hughes boys are gone and I don’t blame them for taking this approach.
Win now and sign Little Hughes just doesn't come together 😂. Trade Little Brother and then you can start thinking of win now mode. Professor SST been saying that forever
Give it to him
thanks for the content once again ace,i agree 100 in what your saying and as a statement i think this luke hughes deal outcome sends a message,negative or positive!,on another topic,you are looking good man,the off season is doing wonders for you.keep up the good work,content and personally wise
If this goes into a holdout, I’d sign Luke to the 5 year deal, see how things go with injuries, add Quinn in a year or two, then make a big trade including all 3 in year 4 of Luke’s contract if they don’t lead this team to a Cup win. If they do end up being the next rafter numbers, then sign Jack and Luke longterm when their contracts are up. If they are lifting Cups with all 3 on the team, why leave?
I do get this low percentage to play out like I wrote and with little thought, lol.
Feel for Fitz (never thought I’d be saying that) this is BAD they can not sign him to a five year; this also is a bit concerning… are they not certain they want to be devils for life? Do they want to go play somewhere else??
I mean I was thinking the term would be the problem, I don’t see Luke as the type of guy asking for 14 million dollars.
Honestly I wouldn’t be suprised if two seasons ago Jack went to Fitz/management and was like u need to get a goalie or I may not want to stay here in a place where I will not be given a opportunity to win day in and day out. (That’s kind of on the they don’t see themselves in a position to win)
Call their raise. If this was poker I would call.
OK… the Devils have not proven they are winners. I do not blame the Hughes Brothers from wanting to leave options open. Also, not worried about them leaving together. If they want to play on the same team it would be A LOT of money for any team in the league to sign both jack and luke as FAs at the same time. I am sure the brothers know this. So… no not worried, Give luke the 5 year deal. Call their bluff!
Am I the only one that doesn’t care if it’s a 5 year deal? Let’s be real if it’s a five year deal and we don’t win….bye lol seriously
This negotiation is putting Fitz and mgmt on notice that the Hughes bros staying in NJ past 2030 (and getting Quinn, too) is not at all a given. And with their lack of aggressive moves and commitment to putting the best team out there possible I don't blame them.
What needs to happen is a deal longer than Jack's. Anything less than that (even a bridge) is a status quo waiting situation that the Canucks find themselves in.
I just want to add I feel more than okay with Nico & Jesper being frustrated about the team's lack of winning than these two. They seem to be reliable in an 82 game season and I 100% get their frustration with this team's never ending dread, but I can't say the same for the Hughes bros. Call it bias or whatever, it's just how I feel.
Fitz has doing nothing down to an art form. Luke will probably hold out a week or so in training camp and Fitz will give him everything he wants.
This is why signing kovacevic was fucking stupid. They had a log jam at d the deal made no sense now we have to unload someone just to sign luke I hate fitz
Win now or trade them. There's no in-between unless this is about money. Can't risk going into free agency. Now we're Vancouver, but in a much better position to collect a king's ransom if it comes to that.
All three Hughes brothers will be Red Wings in 30-31 season. Calling it now
I completely agree…Fitzy doesn't even talk the talk when it comes to winning now and like you said…the players aren't stupid…they clearly see it.
Not to beat a dead horse…but look at how he handled the goalie situation a couple years ago. Not to mention the deadline flops these past 2 seasons. Stevie Wonder could have seen that we needed goaltending but somehow Fitz didn't or didn't care enough to make something happen then.
That was a truly great June brotha!!!!! 2 Cups during our time in HS…none since is upsetting. I miss those glory days of deep playoff runs almost being a guarantee. Something like 5 Conference Finals and 4 Finals appearances in 10 years starting with the dreaded '94 through '03. We NEED that feeling back here in NJ!!!!!
When should we win? Later? Kick the can? – Fitz
K, I am done rage baitin lol.
I hope this wakes the management up that Jack and Luke aren't currently planning to retire here. What a crap show Fitzs press conferences recently have been atrocious from the Luke deal being top priority to the "what us depth scoring." I am beyond worried, and Harris focused on Washington and Crystal Palace (who are in a mess legally with UEFA). Vancouver must be delighted rn
Ace, You could not be more CORRECT. Players want to win and the sad truth is the management does not by the moves they make or don't make.
After him and Jack contact up both to LA
Detriot chance it and get all 3 is another option
Disclaimer: not my first comment…but isn’t Ryan Novozinsky kinda just all bs. I’ve heard things that he just puts out shit with no basis. Am I mistaken ?
Fitz can’t fk this up…. We need 7 or 8 years or bust.
Ok. This seals it. They want all be somewhere else in the future. Move them now while we have Vancouver on the line.
This luke contract is soo important. If u let it happen that it expires same as jacks it would be a total disaster. But even the will of the hughes to do that shows they don't want to stay here…they give a shit about the devils they just want to play all together the team doesnt matter. If fitz gives him the 5 years he is done for me
Fitz needs to take his head out of his ass. He needs to fine a way to get rid of Palat. Trade him to a team with a ton of cap and if you have to be the loser of the trade so be it. Get rid of Casey while you’re at it. The only way I can regain some faith back in Fitz is if come March he finally makes a win now trade.
I’d be more pissed if I hadn’t already accepted that this organization is being sabotaged by aloof ownership and an inept front office. Having said that, I am also surprised with the support for the two brothers, moreso Jack.
They deserve a “winning” team? Oh really? Part of that requires your best players to actually show up for work. Jack’s inability to stay healthy and develop an NHL worthy physique is just as much of a problem as Fitzgerald is. And now Luke appears to be made of glass as well. We’re seeing photos of Nemec being leaked where he looks chiseled out of stone while Jack and Luke are posing for team USA photos looking like the Olsen twins.
There’s gotta be some accountability and that doesn’t just apply for the GM and ownership.
We’re gonna need new owners if this all fails and we lose our untouchable players when they hit UFA. You just saw it yesterday with the Cowboys and Jerry Jones trading away Michah Parsons for a bag of chips, owners directly correlate to the success of their franchises. Some owners care more than others and if you notice those owners spent LTIR money when you could and won cups.
I'm slightly hitting panic button now
Nah chief I'm not letting no shoulders bully the Devils into stupid decisions.
People can give Lou crap for some lost players but what I miss most about him is his desire to win above all else. This is a milktoast organization.
So take a team friendly deal to free up money to sign more quality stars and win now! Greed gets in the way!
So Ace…you know I love you brother…but you are kind of contradicting yourself…if we wanted to win now they would make whatever deal possible to lock in Luke and worry about resigning them hopefully after we win a couple of cups vs. we lock in Luke long term and maybe we win maybe we don't…I get what you're saying and I agree, but if we want to win now shouldn't we be doing whatever it takes to lock in the players to make that happen?
I'm not so sure it's such a bad thing if Jack and Luke both become free agents at the same time in 2030.
2030 is a long way off. A LOT can happen between now and then
There's no predicting it, but there are two important possibilities: we'll either have a championship, in which case it might be easier to keep them (players tend to stay w teams where they won, unless they're near the end of their careers)
or we wouldn't, in which case it might be because they haven't gotten it done, and it would be better to let them go.
I'm fine w your scenario too, of course. But I'm not sure it's completely necessary.
What has Luke done to be in holdout diva mode? If he doesn't want to be here , trade his ass. And his big sister jackie if need be. If they don't want to be here… see ya. Build around nico bratter timo pesce and nemec. With Marky In net, we are still a good team without the hughes sisters.. and that's not considering what we could get back for them
Theres no way luke can get a 5 year deal id make him sit out before i give him that deal.. also the ltir isnt a great move cuz the devils cant accure any cap space during the year if they use that money..
Part of me wants Fitz to sign Luke for 5 years so management will fire him but there's another part of me that says he can do no wrong in Management's eyes as long as he saves them money
You have to imagine that ownership is not allowing Fitz to do more. 2 seasons with the opportunity to use LTIR money and he did 0. If I'm a star player and see that the GM isn't doing everything he can with it I would start to get annoyed and consider my options.
It could also be just as much about that the majority of Luke's career earnings are going to come from this contract and he doesn't want to be underpaid like Jack. I'd note that most of the team discounts for teams like Florida seem to come from vets who have already made serious money and can afford to care more about playing for a winner.
It's not like I think your point may not have some validity, and you know I am on board with blasting Fitz, just am not sure how much of this is the result of Fitz.