The Daily Faceoff Show: Analyzing Jack Hughes’ eight-year contract extension

It was Jack Hughes Day on Tuesday as the No. 1 overall pick from the 2019 NHL Draft inked an eight-year contract extension immediately after returning from an injury that had kept him sidelined for over a month.

Frank Seravalli and former NHL front office executive Steve Greeley discussed Hughes’ new contract, which seems rich for a player who only has 55 points through 120 NHL games.

Seravalli: “Let’s drop the puck with some intriguing news from the New Jersey Devils, signing franchise centerpiece Jack Hughes to an eight-year, $64 million contract extension.

This is a massive deal for a player who really still has a lot of growing to do. He’s just beginning to scratch the surface in his NHL career. To me, when I look at this, it’s surprising at how quickly he’s gotten to the $8 million mark.”

Yes, this is a No. 1 overall pick, he’s extremely talented, but he’s only played two games this season in the final year of his entry-level deal, making his return to the ice on Tuesday night for the Devils. And I look at it and I think, why now? Why did you feel like you needed to get this deal done right at this very moment?

Greeley: “I think you’re going to have people on both sides of this situation. You have a No. 1 overall pick who has shown signs of brilliance. He’s also battled injuries. Is he an $8 million player today? That’s obviously up for debate.

But what New Jersey is betting on here is that they’re going to be the winners on the second half of this deal. Still begs the question, why now?

I think it’s a family affair in Jersey right now, they have his brother [Luke Hughes] coming, let’s keep these people happy. It’s not that they’re overpaying, but let’s keep things friendly, let’s get deals done.

When you get close to that number that both the team and the player like, sometimes it happens quicker than you would imagine. Jack Hughes is probably saying ‘I’ve been hurt, this is a fair number,’ and Jersey is probably saying ‘he’s been hurt, he might have been dominating even more than we’ve been anticipating.’

We aren’t going to know who wins the deal for a while, but I think both sides are certainly very happy.”

You can watch the whole episode here…