The New Jersey Devils struck out on the Quinn Hughes trade sweepstakes, with the Minnesota Wild ending up as the winner. The Wild sent former first-rounders Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren and Zeev Buium to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Hughes.
Minnesota also added its first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft in the package, which ultimately was beefy enough for the Canucks to let go of the former Norris Trophy winner.
With Hughes no longer a trade target, the Devils could focus on other potential moves ahead of the NHL trade deadline, with defenseman Dougie Hamilton and forward Ondrej Palat among the names mentioned by insider Kevin Weekes.
“Per sources, I’m told D Hamilton and F Palat are among names that have been discussed in potential trade scenarios with @NJDevils,” Weekes shared via a social media post on X, formerly Twitter.
It also appears that the Devils have received trade offers from other teams, though none have been accepted just yet.
“I do believe the Devils have had a couple of deals vetoed. I don't know how, I dont know what, but I do believe that's happened,” Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Monday's edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast.
The Devils could create a bigger breathing space in their salary cap room by shedding the salaries of either Palat and Hamilton. Palat has an average annual value of $6 million on his contract that will expire in 2027. Hamilton, on the other hand, has an AAV of $9 million on his deal that runs until the end of the 2027-28 campaign.
