Elliotte Friedman confirms sad truth about New Jersey's failed trade for Quinn Hughes

The New Jersey Devil made it very clear that with both Jack and Luke Hughes already on their roster, they were in pursuit of Quinn, who became available despite being the captain of the Vancouver Canucks.

Unfortunately, General Manager Tom Fitzgerald simply couldn't clear enough cap space to make a potentially tempting offer to the Canucks for their captain, as they ended up dealing him to the Minnesota Wild in a shock trade.

That wasn't for a lack of trying either, as NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman has now revealed that in attempting to clear some salary cap space, Fitzgerald had several deals vetoed, presumably by players that carry no movement clauses.

Whoever ended up vetoing those deals cost the Devils a genuine chance at landing arguably the best defenseman in the entire National Hockey League, but given that they negotiated those NMC's, it's well within their rights to do exactly that.

For now, the dream of having all three Hughes brothers on the same team is officially dead, but with the Devils looking like a genuine playoff threat, these NMC's may need to be approached again as the team likely look to make some upgrades ahead of the 2026 trade deadline, so this time, we will wait and see if things can work out.