The New Jersey Devils‘ entire active roster is finally under contract for the 2025-26 season.
The Devils agreed to terms with star defenseman Luke Hughes on a seven-year, $63 million contract that will keep him in the Garden State through 2032.
Hughes, of course, is the younger brother of Devils star center Jack Hughes. Luke had not yet participated in the team’s training camp or preseason games while going through contract negotiations with the team.
Luke Hughes will return to practice Thursday.
The 22-year-old, who New Jersey chose with the fourth pick of the 2021 NHL Draft, has 93 points in 155 career NHL games for the Devils. He finished with seven goals and 44 points in just 71 games but played just one Stanley Cup Playoff game for the Devils before sustaining a shoulder injury that required off-season surgery.
Luke Hughes Is Part Of Devils’ Core
Hughes is only set to enter his third NHL season, but he has quickly become a valuable member of the team’s blueline.
Hughes set a Devils franchise record for points by a rookie defenseman (47), mostly while quarterbacking the team’s second power-play unit in 2023-24. But last season he became more of a 5-on-5 contributor, since Hughes had 28 of his 44 points at even strength in Sheldon Keefe’s first season as head coach.
In locking up Luke Hughes, the Devils now have 10 players signed through at least 2028 and he is one of seven players signed until 2030 at least — when Jack Hughes’ contract expires. Aside from the Hughes brothers, Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, Brett Pesce and Jonathan Kovacevic are all locked in as core members of the Devils’ roster.
The Devils will need to get a contract done for Nico Hischier — already! — since he only has two years left on his current deal. But assuming they lock in their captain, the Devils will have a huge potential window to win with this core, which has already qualified for the postseason twice in the past three seasons.
Devils Will Need To Get Cap Compliant
The Devils have been weaponizing cap space seemingly since general manager Tom Fitzgerald became part of the team’s front office in 2015. Yet, those are gone, since New Jersey is now up against the upper level of the cap after locking in Luke Hughes.
New Jersey is about $4 million over this season’s $95.5 million salary cap after signing Hughes, but it will get some relief due to a couple of players landing on long-term injured reserve.
Kovacevic is month to month after a knee injury will leave him on long-term injured reserve, which will give the Devils some much-needed breathing room, cap-wise. Plus, Stefan Noesen is dealing with a groin injury that could land him on LTIR to start the year too.
With those injuries, New Jersey will get compliant in time for its season opener against the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 9. Injuries tend to take care of themselves, which means the Devils may not have any issues getting compliant once Noesen and Kovacevic come back.
But with the salary cap in effect into the playoffs for the first time this year, the Devils likely will need to make a move — potentially involving defenseman Dougie Hamilton? — to clear out money some point.
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