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The New Jersey Devils trading Nico Hischier is a bad idea. However, not trading for Quinn Hughes is also a bad idea.

You have to give to get.

I want to reiterate that I am not advocating that the Devils should move Hischier. They should build their 1-2 center punch around him and Jack Hughes.

After all, the Devils are screwed by keeping Hischier—who is undoubtedly a top-line center—on the second line.

Still, you’re not getting Quin without premium returns. And if you can acquire arguably the best defenseman in the league, you will.

It’s more than uniting the Hughes brothers. Still, the Minnesota Wild are just as interested in employing them all on one team as the Devils.

evidence?

After bringing Quinn back from Vancouver last season, Bill Guerin tried to bring in Luke Hughes via the Devils trade.

This will undoubtedly help Guerin sign the Jacks as a free agent in 2030. Nevertheless, the Devils did not entertain Guerin’s pursuit of Luke, and the Devils remained with two of the three Hughes brothers.

However, Sunny Mehta is no Tom Fitzgerald. How much does he desire to unite Hughes’s triumvirate – if at all?

How much is he willing to trade his captain for Quinn?

This seems unlikely. Still, if the nuclear option of acquiring Quinn is successful for Hischier, there are options who should be available to fill the center void this summer, even if not the same as the Devils captain.

Perhaps Quinn’s presence covers any holes left by Hischier, because although you’re upgrading with Quinn, you’re upgrading at center.

Ryan O’Reilly-Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators were treating Ryan O’Reilly with kid gloves last season.

O’Reilly has no protection from a trade, yet Predators GM Barry Trotz was treating him as if he did. Thus, despite all the trade speculation, O’Reilly remained in Nashville as they tried for the playoffs.

They couldn’t make it, and now Nashville will have a new GM.

Who will be at the helm in Nashville has yet to be determined, but after a roller coaster season, a new GM should be ready to move O’Reilly who is going into the last year of his contract on a roster that needs to get younger.

O’Reilly is cut from the same cloth as Hischier. He may no longer have elite metrics in the neutral and defensive zones, but he’s still on the bubble.

In his age-34 season, O’Reilly scored 25 goals and 74 points in 81 games. That’s fewer goals than Hischier (28) but more points (66) while winning 55.8% of faceoffs.

You’re betting on the 35-year-old O’Reilly’s play as a potential short-term stopgap solution and pending free-agent to fill the void.

Mason McTavish-Anaheim Ducks

You might be shopping upside down here.

It seems things are rocky between the Anaheim Ducks and Mason McTavish, who often served as a healthy scratch through two rounds in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The ducks were eliminated on Thursday night. The focus now turns to the offseason where they will undoubtedly look to improve on an unexpectedly successful 2025-26.

Still, McTavish serving as a healthy scratch in his most important games over seven seasons shows where he stands in the eyes of Joel Quenneville.

Now the Ducks will have to make a decision about his future, just like they did with Trevor Zegras last summer.

And it worked out very well for the Philadelphia Flyers.

McTavish has completed the first year of a six-year contract with an average annual value of $7 million. Heading into his age-24 season, there is still a lot to like about McTavish’s game.

The Ducks forward has shown good scoring touch with occasional high-end flashes — winning battles along the wall, driving through contact, and making quick plays in tight areas — but his skating and defensive reliability remain glaring areas of limited consistency so far.

Perhaps Quinn’s tarpaulin-like ability to cover the ice will make up for the defensive deficiencies here. And the Ducks would certainly be selling the player at a low price.

Shane Wright-Seattle Kraken

For a more defensively reliable option, Shane Wright brings some interesting tools to his game – he’s a strong short-field player with solid wheels and reliable defense.

That said, he has seen very limited puck touches in both of his NHL seasons, making it hard to project him as a true driver given how limited his overall participation has been.

Instead, he will need the support of two key top-six wingers. Perhaps Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer will provide ample support until Wright figures out how to move the game forward on his own – or rather If He figures out how to carry the game on his own.

The Kraken were challenging Wright to make his splash at the 2026 NHL trade deadline. In this situation, the Devils are a good fit for a 22-year-old player heading into the final year of his entry-level contract. And there is a positive side to Wright’s development as the aforementioned playdriver.

Wright was more successful in his first full season in 2024–25, scoring 19 goals and 44 points in 79 games, compared to only 12 goals and 27 points the previous season.

Perhaps in a more offensive system in New Jersey – as opposed to Seattle – he can unlock what made him so popular in his draft year.

James is the fully certified New Jersey Devils beat reporter for New Jersey Hockey Now on SportsNote and … More about James Nicholls

On Wednesday, the Atlanta Falcons suddenly felt a need when their starting right tackle Caleb McGary announced his retirement. He was the team’s first-round pick in 2019 and has started all six seasons of his career. Yet, after missing the entire 2025 season due to a serious foot injury, McGarry felt it was time to retire at the age of 31.

Even though he did not play last season, his sudden departure left the Falcons with a significant hole at right tackle. While the news of McGary’s retirement came as a surprise to outsiders, it is clearly something the Falcons have known about for some time.

On Wednesday, less than an hour after McGary’s retirement became public, the Falcons already lined up his replacement.

According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, the Falcons have signed right tackle Jawan Taylor to a one-year contract with a base price of $5 million. He could also earn an additional million through contract incentives.

While Taylor is projected to replace McGary in the Falcons’ starting lineup, he signed a fraction of his previous four-year, $80 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. Still just 28 years old, the Falcons are adding a player who has started all 111 of his appearances in the NFL, including the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win in 2023. More importantly, Atlanta no longer has an urgent need to fill in the 2026 NFL Draft, where they only have five selections and none in the first round.

RELATED: Arizona Cardinals urge trade up, draft first-round QB

Dedicated NFL copywriter/editor. My work has been found on SportsNut, Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, MSN, Yahoo, and Minnesota Sports… More about Andrew Buller-Russ

The 2025-26 season was supposed to be a watershed moment of sorts for the Denver Nuggets, as they added some new pieces to their core four of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Christian Braun, and this new depth was going to make them unbeatable, especially in the postseason.

However, this campaign has been particularly unforgiving for the Nuggets on the injury front, with players like Jokic, Gordon, Braun, new addition Cam Johnson and now breakout star Peyton Watson missing significant time with significant innings. Of course, the goal for the Nuggets is simply to complete the rigors of the regular season together, and given their situation at present, even that is not certain.

Whatever the case, the Nuggets have called on some unlikely contributors to step up, and credit to them. But the Nuggets front office knows time is ticking. Their salary cap obligations are about to increase significantly, as Watson is set for a new big contract. To retain Watson, the Nuggets will have to dive into the luxury tax if they choose to keep their current roster together for the next few seasons.

This prompted them to pull off a salary dump trade before the deadline, sending former second-round pick Hunter Tyson along with a 2032 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets just to avoid the luxury tax. They were $1.8 million under the luxury tax before the move was made to comply with the 14-roster size requirement following the Tyson trade.

Spencer Jones’ Nuggets future is secure…for now

In an ideal world, the Nuggets would have unlimited resources, and they could put their core together without being overly cautious of the punitive nature of the luxury tax under the current CBA. Alas, the Nuggets are not living in an ideal world.

Paying luxury tax is not really a problem when a person is careless. Of course, this plays a factor, as owners are at least very adamant about not wasting money, but the roster move restrictions that come with being in the first or even second apron make roster construction much more difficult.

The Nuggets wanted to get into the tax bracket to reset their timer for at least this season, because their hand will be forced very soon. Nonetheless, they finalized the facilitated transaction of converting Spencer Jones’ contract to a standard contract, making him eligible for the postseason.

Jones is one of the players the Nuggets have relied on to help their injured starters. In fact, the 24-year-old sophomore has made 34 starts for the Nuggets this season, which is nothing short of a huge developmental win for a team that needs some cost-effective but productive players to fill out the roster.

Jones plays unselfishly and he shoots efficiently, and considering how important he has been this season, it was no easy task for the Nuggets to turn his deal into a standard one. His impact doesn’t go beyond the stat sheet, but as a 6’7″ wing who can shoot and defend at multiple positions, he is invaluable to a team with contending aspirations.

However, the problem is that the Nuggets were able to convert his contract to a prorated minimum deal for the remainder of the season instead of signing him to a multi-year contract, which would keep him in the Mile High City on an affordable arrangement for the next few seasons.

With this agreement, Jones will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer, and if he makes seven more starts for the Nuggets, he will be eligible for a qualifying offer of $5.9 million – further reducing the Nuggets flexibility amid their current troubles clearing the salary cap.

At least, the Nuggets now have Johnson and Braun healthy, and they’ve been riding the hot hand of Julian Strother lately, reducing their need to rely on Jones to fill in as the starter. It was going to be difficult for the Nuggets to keep Jones out of the starting lineup as his situation has not improved on the injury front, but now, they have a legitimate reason to bring him off the bench.

But it seems that the hard part is just beginning for the Nuggets.

Denver’s bill is coming due

The Nuggets were absolutely impressed by Braun’s 2024-25 campaign, as he made the move after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left in free agency. Braun signed a five-year, $125 million contract extension – a significant commitment for the Nuggets knowing their cap obligations at the time.

Braun has struggled this season with 36 missed games, a huge decline from last season. And the Nuggets have since seen Watson take the next step in his development, blossoming into a legitimate shot creator on the wing and a far more well-rounded two-way threat than Braun.

Watson is set to enter restricted free agency in the summer, and the Nuggets will have to pay more than $20 million per season to retain Watson. Denver has some tough decisions to make moving forward, and that’s without considering what it would take to keep Jones on a long-term contract.

Cutting Zeke Nnaji’s salary is a way for the Nuggets to make room, and so is moving Johnson out. However, the Nuggets hardly have any assets left to sweeten salary-dump trades, and losing Johnson would be costly, as he’s shooting over 43 percent from deep this season and is on an affordable contract anyway.

Will the Nuggets let Braun go to make room for Watson? This seems like a possible route Denver could take. But his best bet for maintaining his status as a title-contender during Jockey’s prime is to endure the tax hit for at least a year before making a change if he really has to.

Winning fixes everything. And for a Nuggets team that is about to be financially ruined, all the blood they shed will be worth it if they hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June.

Is it really over for the Golden State Warriors? It hasn’t been for lack of trying, but the Warriors no longer look like they have a chance to compete for a title. Jimmy Butler’s injury at the end of the season practically sealed the Dubs’ fate: whatever slim chances they had of competing for a championship vanished when Butler aggravated his knee and tore his ACL on an errant pass from Brandin Podziemski.

The Warriors’ two-timeline ploy didn’t work. James Wiseman was a failure. Jonathan Kuminga has not lived up to expectations. Moses Moody is a role player, a quality player, but not a star who can take over the team. Jordan Poole flared up and upset one of the pillars of the franchise in Draymond Green. And now, the Dubs are stuck with a mediocre and aging roster that is going to have their work cut out for them in a Western Conference challenge.

Credit should go where credit is due; The warriors are still not giving up. They traded for Kristaps Porzingis in a deal that sent Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks, taking the risk that Porzingis’ talent is worth the gamble despite his season-long battle against POTS.

This trade created a roster spot for the Warriors, although they had already filled one of their open roster spots by converting Pat Spencer’s contract to a standard deal, a move that made sense considering how instrumental Spencer has been in covering the team’s injury problems.

The Dubs created another roster spot when they traded Tracy Jackson-Davis to the Toronto Raptors for a second-round pick. With that in mind, the Warriors may have one more move left to make to prepare for the stretch run ahead.

Will the Warriors raid the buyout market?

Before diving into the potential targets the Warriors may set their sights on filling their open roster spot, their financial situation should be taken into consideration. Currently, the Warriors have a total of $205.2 million allocated for their player payroll, which puts them above the tax apron. They are a repeat tax-paying team, which will only serve to make their luxury tax penalty more punitive.

This also reduces their flexibility in the buyout market. The Warriors cannot sign any players in the buyout market whose contract was worth at least $14.1 million (equivalent to non-taxpayer MLE) this season because they were above the first apron. Not many buyout candidates are making that much money anyway, so it’s not like it’ll be a huge factor for the Dubs moving forward.

The Dubs don’t need help at the guard positions. In addition to Stephen Curry, the Warriors have the following playing minutes at the one and two: Podziemski, De’Anthony Melton, Spencer, Gary Payton II and Will Richard. Seth Curry could also be a factor after returning from injury.

Whatever happens, the Warriors need help on the wing. Butler’s injury and Kuminga’s departure have further depleted the Dubs’ depth at the position, pushing Gui Santos into the starting role. Santos has been very much solid and seems like he has established himself as at least a quality role player, but their depth on the wing leaves a lot to be desired.

The Warriors were rumored to be interested in Lonzo Ball, but Ball has looked bad all season, and although he can play one position, he doesn’t necessarily provide anything different than the likes of Payton or Melton. He can be a play initiator, and his court vision is still top-notch, but it might be best for the Dubs to reserve their open roster spot for someone else.

The current buyout market does not inspire much confidence. Of those who have already been forgiven, someone like Chris Boucher matters the most. Boucher is also a former Warriors player, so that could make some sense.

Still, Boucher hasn’t played well enough to earn minutes for the Boston Celtics despite the battle for the wide-open position at center, and it’s not like the Dubs need help at the big man spots, considering they have Green, Al Horford, Quinton Post and now Porzingis to fill all the minutes at five.

Of the players who could potentially be acquired, someone like Kyle Anderson or Nicolas Batum would make the most sense for the Dubs, although it’s not at all clear if those two will get a nod of departure from their teams.

Dubs could bring back a familiar face

Batum is unlikely to leave the Los Angeles Clippers. The veteran credited the team for saving his career in 2020, and he clearly loves the franchise. Furthermore, the Clippers value him as a veteran presence, and rumor has it that he will hang up his sneakers after the season. LA has already let him go once, and they’re not doing it again.

This brings the Warriors into a possible reunion with a familiar face in Anderson. Slo-Mo signed with the Dubs ahead of the 2024-25 season, and he was traded to the Miami Heat in the deal that brought Butler to the Bay. He played in 36 games for the Warriors and started three games, playing 15.0 minutes a night.

Anderson is the kind of cerebral veteran that Kerr relies on, and his playmaking, defending and feel for the game make him an easy piece to integrate for the Dubs.

He’s not going to be a very impactful veteran for the Warriors, but he should at least give the team additional insurance at the forward position. The Memphis Grizzlies are also betting on the 2025-26 campaign, meaning Anderson could very well be bought out, paving the way for a return to the Bay.

However, it’s unclear whether the Warriors have any desire to fill their open roster spot. This will only increase their luxury tax bill. But if they do, bringing in Anderson wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world.