The New Jersey Devils are battling it out in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs in a first-round series matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes. Unfortunately, things aren’t going well on or off the ice for the Devils. There’s been a ton of news surrounding the team—some good and some bad—which can easily cause distractions for the players. With everything piling up in New Jersey, they look a little out of sorts in the playoffs, and if they don’t pull it together, they’ll find themselves on the brink of elimination. In this edition of Devils News & Rumors, we take a look at the Hughes brothers, the injury bug hitting the locker room, and more. Devils Struggling vs. Hurricanes It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the Devils are struggling against the Hurricanes in their first-round matchup. They look out of sorts, which could be a direct result of the number of injuries they’ve had to deal with (more on that later). Or it could be because Sheldon Keefe isn’t a proven playoff coach and often has a hard time when the lights are brightest. Regardless, they’re down 2-0 in the series and need to pull off a win in Game 3 or they’ll be at risk of being pushed to the brink of elimination. Sheldon Keefe, Head Coach of the New Jersey Devils (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers) In Game 1, they lost 4-1, which raised some eyebrows, and in Game 2, they dropped another one, 3-1. It’s very concerning that they’ve only managed to score two goals in two games against Frederik Andersen. It’s even more concerning that Jacob Markstrom has given up seven goals in those games and at times hasn’t looked like himself. If the Devils are going to turn this around, he needs to be lights out and give his team a chance to win—especially when they’re only scoring two goals in two games. Injury Bug Has Arrived It was already bad enough that the Devils lost Jack Hughes in the final month of the regular season. Now, within the first two games of this series, they’ve been hit with even more injuries. Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon were ruled out for Game 2 and could miss more time as they’re both dealing with injuries suffered in Game 1. They’re also without Jonas Siegenthaler, who will miss time with a lower-body injury. That’s three of their six everyday defensemen out of the lineup. Related: Devils’ Jacob Markstrom: ‘I feel really bad’ After Injuring Teammate in Game 1 They nearly lost Cody Glass in this series too, after he was slashed by his own goalie (Markstrom), but he was able to suit up in Game 2. As a result, Simon Nemec and Dennis Cholowski dressed—tough spot for both the players and the team. They’re not the everyday defensemen that Markstrom is used to having in front of him. And now, they’re being thrown into a playoff series already down 1-0—now 2-0—and expected to bring their “A” game to help a banged-up team claw its way back before it’s too late. Quinn Hughes to the Devils? Well, it hasn’t actually been said that Quinn Hughes wants to join the Devils—but in a recent interview, Vancouver Canucks’ President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford had an interesting quote that sent shockwaves through the NHL. “It may not boil down to money with [Quinn]. He said before he wants to play with his brothers, and that would be partly out of our control. In our control [is] if we brought his brothers here.” Rutherford did mention that it’s in Vancouver’s control if they brought the other Hughes brothers there. And while anything is possible, it’s nearly impossible that the Devils would agree to give up both Luke and Jack just so the three brothers could play together. It actually makes more sense for New Jersey to use strength in numbers and try to convince the Canucks to move Quinn. Either way, it likely won’t happen until all three can align their contracts and hit the open market together. For Jack and Quinn, that means figuring out a way to match up with Luke’s new deal, depending on what happens this offseason. Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers) As of now, Jack’s contract expires after the 2029-30 season, Quinn’s expires after 2027-28, and Luke is an RFA this summer. For Luke and Quinn to make it work, they’d need to sign deals taking them to 2029-30—unless Quinn simply doesn’t re-sign in Vancouver and joins the Devils in that offseason. The only other path would be if Quinn demanded a trade and asked to be dealt to New Jersey—but the challenge there is he doesn’t have a no-trade clause, so he can’t control where he ends up. While it’s a cool thought, it probably won’t happen for another two to three years—if not longer. But based on what Rutherford said Quinn wants, it feels like it will happen at some point in their careers. It’s just a matter of when.