Devils, Red Wings re-assess next steps after missing out on Quinn Hughes

When a move as big as Friday’s Quinn Hughes trade happens, it sends ripples across the league. And, with the trade market suddenly active, it’s fair to wonder what the reverberations will be for two teams long linked to Hughes that did not wind up acquiring the Norris Trophy-winning defenceman. 

When the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild exploded us into the weekend with the megadeal that sent Hughes to the Midwest, you couldn’t help but think about the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings. While numerous clubs were going to be interested in acquiring Hughes — especially once it became clear this thing was actually happening — the Devils (because his brothers play there) and the Wings (who play in his home state of Michigan) always seemed like motivated buyers and viable landing spots.

So what now?

Even with the Hughes trade speculation gone, the Devils have no shortage of drama just now, thanks to a 2-7-0 record in their past nine after a 1-1-0 weekend that saw them beat Anaheim 4-1 Saturday and lose to, of all teams, the Canucks 2-1 on Sunday.

Detroit, meanwhile, took it to the Blackhawks in Chicago with a 4-0 victory on Saturday.

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The Devils’ swoon has them outside the playoff picture right now and while the Red Wings are inside the top three in the Atlantic, it’s going to be a season-long battle to crack the post-season.

While it would have been difficult to top Minny’s package for Hughes, it’s at least somewhat telling that neither Detroit nor New Jersey did. And while it’s easy to see why both teams — and 15 others — would love to add Hughes, you could argue he’d be a preposterously amazing luxury item for them rather than a piece they desperately need. 

Detroit already has Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson and Axel Sandin-Pellikka pencilled in on the blueline for the next decade, while Jersey has a Hughes D-man of its own in Luke Hughes, plus breakout Slovak Simon Nemec back there, too. 

If Quinn Hughes is available, you get a proposal together fast. But given needs at other spots, maybe neither team was ready to move heaven and earth to make it happen?

What they can focus on now, as we all hope more deals are coming, is pivoting to places where a different type of help may come. Detroit could really use a centre behind Dylan Larkin and a veteran like Calgary’s Nazem Kadri sure fits the bill. The Devils, meanwhile, want to get into the playoffs and be better prepared to thrive there upon arrival. Wouldn’t six-foot-four Alex Tuch of the Buffalo Sabres assist with that?

We know Calgary —which has won four of its past five after Saturday’s 2-1 OTW in L.A. — is not playing like a team or speaking like an organization running up a white flag, while Buffalo — winners of three straight after downing Seattle 3-1 Sunday night — is surely loathe to do anything that signals more hard times to their fans.

The trade market is starting to take form, though, and if — a couple weeks into 2026 — those clubs still find themselves among the bottom handful of outfits in the league, hard conversations are going to happen.

The Wings and Devils would still have to shell out to get the players we mentioned, but you wouldn’t be talking about the same outlay we saw the Wild (understandably) fork over to get Hughes.

To borrow from the ultimate boomer band, fans in Detroit and Jersey may not have gotten what they want, but may still have a shot to get what they need. 

Weekend Takeaways

• Patrick Kane scored Saturday in Chicago — where he’s ignited crowds with offensive wizardry so many times before — and the 37-year-old sits two goals from 500 for his career 10 years after his Hart Trophy season with the Hawks in 2015-16. Sticking with Old Guy Corner, Brad Marchand’s season in Florida is something else. With nuclear weapons Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk sidelined by serious injuries, Marchand — who, like Kane, is 37 — has stepped into the breach in a crazy way to the tune of 18 goals on the year after two more in a big 4-0 win in Dallas on Saturday. Nine years after setting his career high with 39 goals in 2016-17, Marchand is somehow on pace for 49.

• It was an extreme bummer to see Connor Bedard injured in the final seconds of Friday’s loss to the Blues. He won’t play in Toronto or Montreal this week as the Blackhawks announced that he will be sidelined until January. Meanwhile, the Hawks are now 3-8-2 in their past 13 after getting spanked by Detroit. Here’s hoping a nice story in Chicago — and league-wide — doesn’t go down the tubes with Bedard’s injury.

• Jaccob Slavin — who hadn’t played since Carolina’s second game of the year — quietly returned in Sunday’s 3-2 shootout win over Philly. He played just 14:31, but his ice time is only going to rise from there and his return is a huge boon for the Canes.

• Nobody had a worse weekend than Pittsburgh, which traded its starting goalie on Friday — albeit for a good package from a long-term perspective — then gagged up late leads on home ice both Saturday and Sunday when it seemed victory was in the bag. Anthony Mantha scored 5:25 into the third period on Saturday to give Pittsburgh a 5-1 advantage on the Sharks, who stormed back for a 6-5 OTW thanks to three tallies in the final five minutes of the third. Twenty-four hours later, the Penguins carried a 3-0 lead into the final 20 minutes and watched Utah score twice in less than 90 seconds at the start of the third to make a game of it. Before the period was half over, the Mammoth had acquired a 4-3 advantage and wound up winning 5-4 in overtime. That’s five straight losses for the Pens, who may feel the ground crumbling underneath their skates. 

Red and White Power Rankings

1. Montreal Canadiens (17-11-4) It’s become quite clear in Montreal that Juraj Slafkovsky — bouncing between the first and second line these days — is playing the best hockey of his career since the Habs picked him first overall in 2022. The big winger chipped in a pair of assists in Sunday night’s important 4-1 win over the Oilers. 

2. Edmonton Oilers (15-12-6) Might as well get right to it. Tristan Jarry will (presumably) start against his old team in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night when Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby meet for the first time this season. 

3. Toronto Maple Leafs (14-12-5) John Tavares had a hot start, but the veteran has just two points in his past eight games after being held off the sheet in a 6-3 Saturday night loss to Edmonton that prompted Toronto coach Craig Berube to call out his leaders.

4. Winnipeg Jets (15-15-1) Connor Hellebuyck returns from surgery and, just like that, everything feels right with the Jets as they pumped the Capitals 5-1 in Winnipeg on Saturday night. Of course, the .500 team has lots of work to do to validate that feeling, but Saturday was a good start.

5. Ottawa Senators (14-13-3) Getting Brady Tkachuk back late last month was supposed to give this team a boost. Instead, after Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Wild before Quinn Hughes got there, Ottawa is 2-6-0 since its captain returned to the lineup. 

6. Calgary Flames (13-16-4) After Tuesday’s tilt in San Jose, the Flames will play seven of eight games at home. If this team is actually going to push up the standings, it will have to exploit that run. 

7. Vancouver Canucks (12-17-3) Is it optimistic or pessimistic to wonder if Thatcher Demko will ruin the tank in Vancouver? He made 25 saves to get the Canucks a 2-1 win in Jersey on Sunday and, when healthy, he’s a good enough goalie to make you contemplate how high he raises the floor for a club with designs on a very high 2026 draft pick. 

The Week Ahead

• Team USA opens its World Junior Selection camp in Minnesota on Monday, as the Stars and Stripes try to become the first team to win three straight WJC tournaments since Canada won five consecutive golds from 2005 to 2009. Speaking of Team Canada, on Wednesday it will play Sweden in a pre-tournament contest in Kitchener, Ont. with 2026 NHL Draft hot shots Gavin McKenna and Keaton Verhoeff of Canada, and Swede Ivar Stenberg potentially all in the lineups. 

• Chris Kreider, after being alienated on Broadway and shipped to Anaheim in the summer, will return to Madison Square Garden on Monday as a productive member of the Ducks. 

• Will Stuart Skinner’s first start as a Penguin come against his old Oilers friends on Tuesday? And will Leon Draisaitl — sitting on 999 career points — pot No. 1,000 against him?

• If anybody wants to pull off another blockbuster swap before the holiday season, they have until midnight local time on Friday — when the seven-day NHL roster freeze takes effect — to get it in. I mean, Mikko Rantanen was traded on a Friday twice last season and the Hughes swap three days ago was another Friday bombshell, so you never know.

• The Central Division was the Group of Death before Hughes got there and if the Jets want to prove they still belong, a win in Colorado versus the Avs on Friday would go a long way. On Sunday, we get our first Hughes vs. Cale Makar contest that’s an all-Central affair when the Avs visit Minnesota.

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