Devils’ Luke Hughes Contract Talks Mired in Conflicting Insider Reports

The New Jersey Devils entered the summer with a clear objective: find a top-six winger to pair with either Nico Hischier or Jack Hughes — a move that never materialized. General manager Tom Fitzgerald did not bring in a marquee scorer, and as the offseason progressed, the team’s focus shifted to an equally pressing matter — restricted free agent defenseman Luke Hughes, who has yet to sign a longer-term deal.

According to NHL insider Frank Seravalli, this negotiation “might be a little bit more of a difficult one,” suggesting Hughes could be “incentivized to take a bit of a shorter deal.” Hughes, who will turn 22 in September, has quickly made an impact in his first two NHL seasons, recording 16 goals and 91 points while showing a refined defensive game. Selected fourth overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, he has proven to be much more than simply Jack and Quinn Hughes’s younger brother, displaying all the on-ice tools needed to develop into a top-pairing defenseman for years to come.

While the contract talks continue, the team’s position in the betting markets has held steady but cautiously. Across major sportsbooks, the Devils’ Stanley Cup odds currently range from +1600 at DraftKings and ESPN BET to +2000 at BetMGM, with FanDuel and Covers listing them at +1800. Division lines have the team around +350 to win the Metropolitan, with BetMGM pricing their Eastern Conference chances at +900 and playoff qualification at -325. Opening futures have seen little change. BetMGM posted the Devils at +1800 before the offseason began, and the number remains there now, though public interest has been moderate, with just over 2% of tickets and around 1% of handle in recent Cup betting reports. For Luke Hughes individually, his Norris Trophy odds remain long, varying from +10000 to +30000 depending on the book, reflecting both his potential and the uncertainty of his next deal.

In an ideal scenario for New Jersey, the team could secure Hughes on a six-year contract worth no more than around $7 million annually. That would help keep alive the long-discussed possibility of pairing all three Hughes brothers on the Devils’ roster. Beyond that ambition, the franchise can ill afford to lose another high-profile defense prospect. Hughes has delivered on his draft billing, and simultaneously, the team’s 2022 second overall pick, Šimon Nemec, has not yet met expectations. Allowing either of those top draft investments to fail would represent a significant setback for the club’s future.

Confusion over the direction of negotiations deepened as conflicting reports emerged. Just days after Sportsnet’s Luke Fox said on the Halford and Brough Show that both the Devils and Hughes were motivated to complete a long-term deal, even predicting that a seven-year agreement might be the right middle ground, Seravalli’s comments painted a different picture, pointing toward the possibility of a shorter contract.

Fox’s assessment had offered fans some optimism. He pointed to the precedent set by Jack Hughes’s deal, an eight-year contract worth $8 million annually signed before Jack had fully broken out as a superstar. That agreement has since become one of the league’s most valuable contracts for a player of his caliber, and the hope is that Luke could follow a similar path with an early long-term commitment.

However, the recent suggestion of a “complicated” situation has cast doubt over which way the deal will go. Pierre LeBrun has remained silent on the matter, having not posted an organic NHL-related tweet since July 3, while Elliotte Friedman has only briefly referenced the potential influence of Jack Hughes’s contract on Luke’s negotiations, without providing further details.

For now, the reality is that no one outside of the Devils’ front office and Hughes’s camp knows exactly where things stand. The negotiation is taking longer than expected, but both sides have strong incentives to reach an agreement. Fitzgerald is well aware of Hughes’s importance to the team’s success, and Hughes understands how critical the coming season will be for his career progression.