Major Opportunity Emerges for Canucks GM Patrik Allvin as Luke Hughes Contract Standoff Continues with Devils
Photo credit: NHL/New Jersey Devils.
The brother of Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes remains unsigned as training camp opens later this week which he led to some trade speculation.
All summer long, Vancouver Canucks fans and those around the National Hockey League have been hearing non-stop rumors about Quinn Hughes future in British Columbia, with many linking him with a move to join his brothers Jack and Luke in The Garden State.
Quinn Hughes has spoken about the rumors, saying that his focus right now is on the 2025-26 season and helping the Canucks make it back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, meanwhile in New Jersey, with the club set to open the preseason next Sunday against the New York Rangers, they still haven't been able to get a deal done with RFA defenseman Luke Hughes.
Could Luke Hughes be a trade option for Vancouver Canucks amid contract stalemate?
At the end of August, a report came out saying that one big issue in talks between the Devils and Luke Hughes' camp is that the team either wants a bridge contract or a max-term eight-year deal.
Meanwhile for Hughes, he's reportedly seeking a five-year contract, which would make him an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2030, the same year his brother and teammate Jake Hughes can hit the open market.
"The main obstacle, according to NJ.com, is that the Hughes camp wants a five-year deal, to align Luke's contract with that of brother Jack Hughes' deal. This would conceivably set up both brothers to be unrestricted free agents ahead of the 2030-31 season.
The Devils, on the other hand, want Luke Hughes to sign either a three-year bridge deal or a full eight-year extension." Sportsnet said at the end of August.
The Devils, on the other hand, want Luke Hughes to sign either a three-year bridge deal or a full eight-year extension." Sportsnet said at the end of August.
With training camp just days away and the two sides not any closer to ending this stalemate, many have been wondering if this could shift to a potential trade and while the New Jersey Devils almost certainly don't want it to come to that, the offers they might receive if he's placed on the market might be too good to refuse.
For a team like the Vancouver Canucks, bringing Luke Hughes to the team would go a long way in ensuring that their captain sticks around, but do they have the pieces to get a deal done?
Any deal would have to begin with one of Vancouver's top prospects, whether that be Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Braeden Cootes or Tom Willander, along with a first round pick.
Beyond that, we could see a roster player go back the other way to make room for Luke Hughes' salary and possibly another prospect too, likely a 'B' level guy such as Riley Patterson or even Parker Alcos.
However, the odds of Luke Hughes being traded by the New Jersey Devils is quite slim, even though it's an interesting possibility to think about, but the 22-year-old is a big piece of their blue line and as Stephan Roget of Canucks Army pointed out recently that it would take a complete breakdown in contract talks for a trade to even be considered an option.
"And unless this holdout goes on for a lot longer, we can probably also dispense with the notion of a trade in the immediate future. Luke is still a big part of the Devils' plans to compete with this Hughes-Nico Hischier core down the middle, and even if the best they do is a bridge deal, that will still give them at least a few more years with him. It would take a true breakdown of negotiations to get the Devils to even consider selling a 22-year-old top-pairing defender." Roget said.
We'll have to wait and see where things go on the Luke Hughes contract front over the next little while, but if an opportunity comes up where he's made available for trade, Patrik Allvin has to be all over it.
Previously on CanucksDaily
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 15 | 1544 ANSWERS Major Opportunity Emerges for Canucks GM Patrik Allvin as Luke Hughes Contract Standoff Continues with Devils Do you think the Vancouver Canucks have the pieces needed to get a Luke Hughes trade done? | ||
| Yes | 616 | 39.9 % |
| No | 437 | 28.3 % |
| The New Jersey Devils won't trade him | 491 | 31.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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