The Hughes brothers’ place in the NHL
Photo courtesy of Jenn G/Wikimedia Commons
As NHL training camps get underway, contract talks between the New Jersey Devils and defenseman Luke Hughes remain stalled, fueling speculation about his future, as well as, his brothers’ futures in the league.
With National Hockey League (NHL) training camps starting up in the next few days, many teams have been busy this offseason finalizing contracts, making roster moves, and preparing for the long season ahead. The one major storyline going into the 2025-26 season is the lack of a contract extension for New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes.
Drafted by the Devils fourth overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Luke Hughes has spent his first three seasons in the league with the Devils. He has appeared in 155 games and has recorded 93 points, with 17 goals and 76 assists. Hughes’s impact on the defensive side of the game for New Jersey poised him as one of the front-runners for a significant contract extension.
At the end of last season, it was in General Manager Tom Fitzgerald’s best interest to lock down Luke Hughes, but so far that is not the case. According to Ryan Novozinsky, a reporter for NJ.com, negotiations had stalled, with Hughes seeking a five-year extension that would align his contract expiration with that of his brother, star Devils center Jack Hughes’s contract.
The Devils, however, appear more interested in a short-term three-year bridge deal or a maximum eight-year extension. I do not blame the Devils’ front office for maintaining an impasse on this deal because if they gave Luke Hughes what he wants, they would have to set up double negotiations for both Jack and Luke. Failing to meet Luke Hughes’s demands risks tension with one of their most promising young players—a dangerous gamble for a team that is built around this core talent.
These contract extension worries have sparked conversations surrounding the possibility of all three Hughes brothers playing on the same team. Widely regarded as one of the most exceptional sibling sets in sports, the Hughes brothers have been selected within the top 10 of their respective drafts and have emerged as the cornerstones of their franchises.
This standoff has opened the door to even wider speculation. Luke’s holdout has the Devils’ cap space situation on the front burner, but the Vancouver Canucks may pave the way for the dream of the official partnership of all three brothers to become reality.
For the Hughes brothers to end up on the same roster in Vancouver, several contract dominoes would need to fall in just the right way. If the Devils opt for a shorter bridge deal rather than a max extension, it could line up his free agency with Jack’s, opening the door for both brothers to go on the market at the same time as unrestricted free agents.
Jack, under contract with New Jersey through 2030, would need to reach the end of his current deal or request a trade if he wanted to join Quinn Hughes, defenseman and current captain of the Canucks, sooner. Meanwhile, Quinn’s long-term stability in Vancouver depends on the Canucks managing their cap space to keep him while also positioning themselves to make room for one—or even both—of his brothers.
In short, whether they all end up in Vancouver or another team, the scenario requires not only cooperative timing on contract expirations, but also a franchise willing to commit major salary cap resources to three star players.
When asked about playing with his brother Quinn, Jack Hughes said, “Honestly, I'm not afraid to say it. Eventually I'd love to play with him. And whether that's in New Jersey or at what time that takes, at some point, I want to play with Quinn… But yeah, that's the question going around. They talk all day about it up in Vancouver, you know? But yeah, I'd love to play with Quinn at some point.”
While fans wait anxiously for a deal to come to a close, Fitzgerald is prepared to start training camp and the beginning of the season without Luke Hughes. He spoke on the possibility, saying, “At the end of the day, when really the only leverage the player has at this point in their career is holding out, that stinks. I don't think anyone wins, quite honestly, when that happens. So Pat [Hughes’s agent] and I are trying hard to get this thing to some common ground.”
For now, the Hughes brothers’ futures remain one of the league’s most intriguing “what-ifs.” The Devils must find a common ground with Luke without disrupting their long-term core, while Vancouver faces the challenge of keeping cap space open for any future opportunities.