Blueprint for Retaining a Star: What the Devils Must Do to Re-Sign Luke Hughes

A solid offseason so far for the New Jersey Devils welcomes three new faces to the team, Connor Brown, Evgenii Dadonov, and Thomas Bordeleau, and some familiar faces make their return. But, as the offseason is in full swing, one Devils player who has yet to pen their new deal is star defenseman Luke Hughes, and with some cap space limitations, some big and bold moves are ahead for New Jersey, and here is what sacrifices and routes they may have to take to lock down Hughes.

It has been a summer of spending in the last week for New Jersey, and being ranked as one of the best offseason hauls so far, the additions of Connor Brown at $3 million AAV, and Evgenii Dadonov at $1 million AAV, and the extensions accumulating to a total of $4.3 million for Cody Glass and Jake Allen, their $8 million total spend hasn't been too shabby, but their biggest move of the summer is yet to come. 

With just under $7 million in cap space, 21 year old future defenseman Luke Hughes is currently still a restricted free agent, but with his contract extension without any doubt, some major transactions are to come for New Jersey, and ideally, with a couple of more extensions needed including newly acquired Thomas Bordeleau, the Devils may look to clear around $8 million in cap space in the next week or so, and some big players could be on the chopping block. But who?

The player who stands out most in the pack of potential sacrifices for New Jersey is multi-time Stanley Cup champion Ondrej Palat who currently has a $6 million cap hit, and a 10 team no trade list. But, amongst a team of untouchable big contracts, Palat at age 34, and having two more years on a massive deal for the Devils is the obvious option, and would even be moved for as little as a sixth or seventh round pick. The $6 million cleared by Palat is more than enough to re-sign Hughes, potentially reaching a deal at around the range of $8 million AAV at seven or eight years, also leaving some room for Bordeleau’s RFA extension, likely to reach around $2-3 million.

With Palat being the most obvious cut to clear the cap, even somebody easier to move like a Dawson Mercer at $4 million AAV could be an option amongst a number of possible players to leave New Jersey this summer. But, in the Devil's case, Palat is the perfect player to move, and come the trade deadline, that is when others may start to depart. But for now, Hughes’ extension is the priority, and any major sacrifices that New Jersey sees fit may just have to be taken to lock down Luke, and ensure their future franchise d-man isn't going anywhere.