Devils rumors: Failed Quinn Hughes trade ‘damaged’ New Jersey internally, insider claims

The New Jersey Devils have been one of the most disappointing teams in the NHL. At the start of the season, they appeared to be one of the favorites to win the Metropolitan Division and possibly represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.

However, this has been a season where preseason expectations mean very little. The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers have had a difficult time and are currently in 7th place in the Atlantic Division and out of the playoff structure. Meanwhile the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings are in first and second place in the Atlantic.

Things may be even worse for the Devils, who are in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division. They are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games, and the season took a nasty downward turn when they failed to acquire superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks.

Instead, Vancouver moved on from the defenseman and traded him to the Minnesota Wild. The Devils had been prominently mentioned in nearly all of the trade scenarios for the star defenseman, largely because it would have given New Jersey a monopoly of Hughes brothers. Center Jack Hughes is one of the league’s most dynamic offensive players, but he has been limited by injuries this season. Defenseman Luke Hughes is also a solid offensive player, but not as dynamic as Quinn.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has reported that the Devils organization has been in a downward spiral since the team missed out on acquiring Quinn Hughes. “It is very clear to me that the whole Quinn Hughes situation just damaged their internal workings, business got out, NTCs used, things like that and I don’t know how you fix that,” Friedman said, per NHL Watcher.

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