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Quinn, Jack and Luke Hughes (The Hockey Writers)

Devils Can Greatly Benefit From Salary Cap Increase

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Daniel Amoia | Last updated Feb 1, 2025 1:45 PM ET

On Friday, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced in a memo that each team’s cap space upper limit would increase from $88 million to $95.5 million in 2025-26, another $8.5 million ($104 million) in 2026-27 and then once more to $113.5 million in 2027-28.

The New Jersey Devils, with a lot of their players locked up, have had to walk the tightrope of limited cap space. Their current space of $3,044,260 (via PuckPedia) could partially be the reason they have yet to grab any external acquisitions, despite many of their Metropolitan Division foes doing so.

Devils Have Decisions to Make

This upcoming offseason, they may need to discuss a potential extension for Luke Hughes and Johnathan Kovacevic. With Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey also in the fold, plus Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce locked up for a while, it won’t be easy navigating the logjam.

But with cap space increasing, they can breathe easier no matter what decision they choose. Maybe they’re comfortable letting Kovacevic walk knowing they have Nemec still under team control, leaving them with more money to stack the forward group. Or maybe they trade Nemec, grabbing a first-round pick and looking to stay a perennial contender with prospects like Lenni Hameenaho, Arseni Gritsyuk, Mikhail Yegorov and Anton Silayev on their way…knowing that they’ll have room to extend any (and maybe even all) of them down the road.

Quinn Hughes to New Jersey?

It’s no secret that things are not going too well in Vancouver. Quinn Hughes’ contract ends after the 2026-27 season, conveniently just one season before Hamilton comes off the books as the Devils may need to be in the market for an offensive defenseman. Sure, Luke Hughes will probably be more developed offensively, but if the Devils could make it work, Quinn, Luke and Silayev on the left side for years is a scary thought.

There’s no saying for sure that the oldest Hughes won’t stick around with the Vancouver Canucks, but rumors have floated around that he refuses to stick around for a rebuild, if that’s what they choose. “If we were going to completely start over, that means [Quinn Hughes] goes,” Jim Rutherford, Canucks’ president of hockey operations, told The Globe and Mail. (from ‘No good solution in rift between Canucks teammates Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, Rutherford says,’ The Globe and Mail, January 28, 2025)

Slight Retool in 2027

The Devils have a ton of players coming off the books by the conclusion of the 2026-27 season: namely restricted free agents: L. Hughes, Nemec, Casey, Paul Cotter, Dawson Mercer and Nico Daws. Along with unrestricted free agents: Jake Allen, Jacob Markstrom, Brenden Dillon, Nico Hischier, Stefan Noesen and Ondrej Palat.

The Devils will need to make some important decisions, but the flexibility gives them a ton of room to figure it out.

Best Possible Scenario

The Devils might be best-suited to get as many extensions done as possible prior to the largest cap upper limit in 2026-27, preferably as soon as this offseason. Like this season, it might keep them in a tough cap situation for 2025-26, but that extra open room, along with contracts coming off the books (Palat, Hamilton) will allow them tons of opportunity to add game changing players down the road.

It’s been pretty clear that the Devils are willing to spend the money to get where they need to go; it’s just a matter of making the right decision. But with all this newfound flexibility and players like Jack, Luke, Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt staying for the long haul, plus a plethora of promising prospects, the ball is in their court to not mess it up.

How would you navigate all of these decisions? Let us know in the comments.