NHL Trade Rumor: Bold Blockbuster Offer Proposed For Quinn Hughes

After the Minnesota Wild were eliminated in the second round by the Colorado Avalanche, superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes said all the right things, that he was open to re-signing in Minnesota.

However, saying and doing are two different things. With one year left on his current deal, he's eligible for an extension as of July 1, and we'll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, over in New Jersey, where Hughes' two brothers play, the Devils have an urgent extension situation brewing this summer as well. Top-line center and captain Nico Hischier is also heading into the final year of his deal next season, and he, too, is eligible to re-up this summer.

Hischier was non-committal when asked at exit interviews if he expects to sign an extension this offseason. "I’m focusing on playing hockey here," Hischier said. "I still have one more year. So I’m with the Devils right now, and then we’ll see what happens." That answer has some around the Devils squirming.

Which leads us to a bold blockbuster proposal from New Jersey Hockey Now's James Nichols. He submits that if neither of those critical extensions get done (Hughes in Minnesota, Hischier in Jersey), the Devils should be ready to pounce, with an offer like this:

New Jersey Devils receive:

Quinn Hughes

Minnesota Wild receive:

Nico Hischier
Simon Nemec (or Anton Silayev)
2026 first-round pick
Potential additional piece

The Wild are anxious to find another top-six center this offseason. Hischier does have a 10-team no-trade list, however, and it's unknown if Minnesota is on it.

As for Hughes, we all know he'd be thrilled to join his brothers Jack & Luke in New Jersey — regardless of what he says about being in Minnesota.

Nichols admits that even using the word 'bold' to describe this kind of trade isn't doing it justice. "We’re talking about a move here with a magnitude of 10."

He goes on to wonder if the new Devils regime under Sunny Mehta "can pull off what the old front office couldn’t," in uniting the three Hughes brothers in Jersey.

Once contract negotiations can officially begin on July 1, we could know a lot more about the futures of those two stars in their respective cities.