How Devils GM Sunny Mehta's Patience Increased The Chances Of Landing Quinn Hughes

In this young stint as New Jersey Devils GM, Sunny Mehta has shown that, as a renowned master poker player, he’s more than happy to sit back patiently and let a good hand come to him. And in the wake of Friday’s blockbuster acquisition of former Winnipeg Jets star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, Mehta has set up his Devils team to be a very attractive option for current Minnesota Wild superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes when he becomes the top UFA player on the open market at the end of this season.

With Hellebuyck now an integral core member of the team, the Devils are now infinitely more of a destination point for Hughes, who has spoken numerous times publicly about wanting to eventually play with brothers Jack and Luke Hughes – two other core New Jersey players.

Who wouldn’t want to play alongside Hellebuyck – a Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP, a three-time Vezina Trophy winner as top netminder, and an Olympic gold-medal winner as part of Team USA?

Essentially, Mehta’s acquisition of Hellebuyck makes the Devils the NHL’s new version of Team America, and if Quinn Hughes chooses not to re-sign with the Wild, the odds-on favorite to land him is clearly New Jersey.

Here’s what could be the best part of the whole situation. While Mehta spent a good deal of his trade capital to land Hellebuyck, he could wind up signing Quinn Hughes without spending a single asset other than his salary cap space to get him. 

Indeed, while the Wild threw a slew of young players to the Vancouver Canucks to acquire Quinn Hughes last season, every day that passes without Hughes’ signature on a long-term contract extension with Minnesota lends more credence to the belief that he’s destined to play with Jack and Luke Hughes. And if you examine the Devils’ cap projections in the next off-season, you can see how Mehta is positioning his team to have more than enough cap space to sign Quinn Hughes to a big-money contract and turn New Jersey from a Stanley Cup fringe team to a Cup front-runner.

As it stands right now, the Devils are projected to have $16.8 million in cap space. Now, if Quinn Hughes is looking for a near-maximum-level contract of approximately $20 million per season, Mehta will have to move some money around to pay Quinn Hughes market value and still fill out the rest of his roster.

But there’s one contract in particular that stands out as being movable in order to free up $9 million in cap space – and that’s veteran blueliner Dougie Hamilton.

The longtime Devils D-man will be 34 years old in the summer, and he’s going to have one year left on his contract after this season. Hamilton’s name had appeared in trade rumors last season, so it will surprise no one when Hamilton once again gets rumored to be moved. However, it should be mentioned that he has a no-move clause attached to the rest of his deal.

So, if Mehta does deal Hamilton, he’ll have approximately $25.8 million in cap space – easily enough to pay Quinn Hughes $20 million per year. And Hughes will be a tremendous upgrade from Hamilton, making New Jersey’s defense corps one of the league’s deepest, most-talented groups.

Now, with Hellebuyck on board, you have to believe Quinn Hughes looks at New Jersey as an even more attractive destination. The Wild aren’t going to let Hughes leave without a fight, but if the suspicions of former Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford prove to be accurate and Hughes winds up choosing to sign with New Jersey, Mehta would be foolish to throw so much as a single draft pick or prospect Minnesota’s way to acquire Hughes. The Devils can sit back, bide their time for the rest of this season, and pick up Quinn Hughes in the next off-season to make New Jersey a true powerhouse.

Mehta’s poker-playing experience has taught him the value of patience. He was more than willing to be patient with his goaltending situation this year – starting out with the less-than-impressive tandem of Nico Daws and Jake Allen – until there was a trade that made sense and improved New Jersey in net. He’s now tracking to take the same patient approach when it comes to acquiring one of the best blueliners on the planet.

If you know Quinn Hughes wants to be part of your team, you slowly, quietly put the pieces in place to make that happen. And the acquisition of Hellebuyck proves to Quinn Hughes that the Devils will spare no expense to put together the caliber of team any star player would want to be part of.

It may take another eight months or so before New Jersey lands Quinn Hughes. But patience is a virtue, and Mehta knows how to keep his hand to himself before he eventually lays his cards on the table. Quinn Hughes could prove to be the final piece of the championship puzzle for the Devils, and adding Hellebuyck is a crucial selling point for Mehta to inform Hughes that the best road ahead for him is in New Jersey.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free.

See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.