The Devils are betting heavily on Luke Hughes

The New Jersey Devils and Luke Hughes’ contract stalemate finally came to an end, as the two parties agreed to a seven-year deal with a $9 million cap hit. At first glance, that may seem like a lot for a defenseman with only 159 NHL games under his belt, but it’s a huge bet on the upside that he brings to the table.

Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton talked about the Hughes contract and how it should be a great bet for the Devils on Daily Faceoff Live.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Luke Hughes, just two years into his NHL career, gets a seven-year deal with a $9 million AAV, one that makes you just shake your head and open your eyes and go like, “Holy shit, they paid him what?”

But at the same time, you look around the league and this is what guys like Jake Sanderson and other young defensemen have got. You’re taking a risk. But I always say, the only way to get value down the line is to take the plunge now when you have a young player like Hughes.

Carter Hutton: When I look back on my time in Nashville, we would lock up Roman Josi, Ekholm, Ellis. All these guys had those long-term deals where you’re betting on that future. There is that risk.

But for Luke Hughes, there’s a lot of upside to his game. Again, I don’t think it’s going to get any cheaper as it moves forward. I think right now, Lane Hutson is probably sitting at home licking his chops seeing this contract come across the board.

It’s going to change the landscape. It’s the same as the Kaprizov contract. There’s a few more holes in his game. But I think for him, what I look at for Luke Hughes is the fact that there’s maturity, and I think the holes in his game are, he tends to turn the puck over a little bit. He’s still a great skater. He possesses, he’s a great passer. There’s a lot of high qualities in his game.

The fact of the matter is, I think what the Devils think is over time he’s going to develop with experience. We don’t see a lot of defensemen really fine tune those parts of their game until they get the maturity. So we’re betting on that.

And the Devils need to win. The Metro is a division that’s very open. You look at Carolina, they’re the team that I think will be the favorites, but the Devils are right there, and it’s wide open if you have a good season to get to that conference final.

Tyler Yaremchuk: It is. I do think the East is open.

Luke Hughes, 12th-highest AAV amongst defensemen. In his two years in the league, though, he’s been 21st in points. Ultimately, I know there’s always going to be the defensive blips with a young player, and people will try to poke holes in his game. Love that you brought up Lane Hutson as well, by the way, because if this guy’s getting nine, Lane Hutson is getting 12 or 13 on his first deal, I think.

But Luke Hughes, 21st in points, 12th highest AAV now. The fact it’s probably going to age pretty good. I don’t know. I actually think this is pretty good work. It’s sticker shock, and it took me 15- 20 minutes. But then as I started to peel apart the numbers, I was like, “No, I like this”.

You can watch the full episode here…