NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 05: Nico Hischier #13 of the New Jersey Devils comes to the bench after scoring during the second period of the game against the New York Islanders on February 5, 2026 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
If you read my article last week, you’ll know that my general thought process when it comes to fixing the Devils is that
trading away star players is a bad idea. Most teams that make those types of deals don’t get better as a result of it.
There was one player that I did kind of gloss over in that article though where I think its worth a deeper dive. And that player is none other than Devils captain Nico Hischier.
I wrote this last week pertaining to Hischier.
Nico Hischier might be different in that he’ll be entering his contract year next year. I would expect that he ultimately signs a contract extension, but its not a lock that he does. If, and only if, he decides not to sign would I even entertain a trade pertaining to the Devils captain.
Nico Hischier will be entering the final season of his contract next season. Signed for $7.25M AAV, he is eligible to sign a contract extension on July 1st. If he were to sign a max-term seven-year contract (
per the new CBA), that would take him through his age 35 season in 2033-34. A contract extension would cement Hischier’s status as one of the greatest forwards in franchise history as he’d likely finish his career in the Top 5 of every major statistic as a Devil.
But what does Nico Hischier actually want as he enters a contract year?
I’ve talked about this before when it comes to Hischier
when I broached this topic over the summer, but it bears repeating. Hischier literally does everything for this team. He plays in all situations. He takes almost every important faceoff this team has and wins at a 55% clip. He is consistently among the team leaders in scoring. He plays hurt. He plays sick. He does this all while wearing the ‘C’ and representing himself, his home nation, and the fanbase in a way we can be proud of as Devils fans. Is he a perfect player? Not by any means. But he’s our player. He’s been here since he was drafted #1 overall in 2017 and has grown from a teenager who “
love to hockey” into the player he is today.
At the end of the day though, the NHL is a business. Teams make business decisions all the time in their best interests. Players are no different. Players will do what they determine is best for them and their families. Yes, players want to be paid. But they also want to be in a position to win.
That last part is critically important because this is where the Devils fumbling the bag as often as they have in recent years and under Tom Fitzgerald’s leadership might ultimately come back to bite them.
To be clear, Nico Hischier has never said anything publicly about his frustrations with the organization or not wanting to be in New Jersey. At least, as far as I’m aware of. But he is human. He’s a guy who is giving it his all every game, every shift. He’s the captain of this team for a reason.
That said, we also need to be honest about the Devils and where they are as a franchise.
This is an organization that for his entire time in New Jersey, they have only been to the playoffs three times. They have won one playoff round. Despite a hot start to this season, they’re likely going to be on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs once again.
This is also an organization where the GM has made questionable move after questionable move in attempts to win now. This is an organization where the coaching style of Sheldon Keefe doesn’t really fit the core players the Devils have in place. This is an organization where the other star center in Jack Hughes, fairly or not, has a lengthy injury history and isn’t always available, which puts even more pressure on Hischier to carry the load in his absence. For as bright as the future looked three years ago, it’s hard to have that same sense of optimism entering this offseason.
I’m not suggesting that Hischier is looking to bolt the first chance he gets. I’m not a mindreader and I don’t know what he’s thinking. But put yourself in his shoes for a moment.
Imagine that you were the one busting your butt to try to do everything you could for this organization to win games. Now consider that your direct bosses (in this case, Tom Fitzgerald and Sheldon Keefe) might not know what they’re doing in regards to building a winning team and/or putting you in the best position to succeed. You have to take every critical faceoff because the GM never bothered to replace Michael McLeod a few years ago. You have to kill penalties because the other forwards are inadequate doing so. You’re doing everything you reasonably can despite the fact that every other year, the goalie can’t make a save, regardless of who they bring in to play the position. It’s demoralizing to have a good period where you’re doing all of the right things only to be down 1-0 because the goaltender can’t make routine saves.
Consider that you’re already 27 years old, and while you’re not an old man, you’re not getting younger either. You want to win, but the organization hasn’t done nearly enough to maximize your prime and/or put the requisite pieces around you where you don’t have to literally do everything. And knowing all of this, this upcoming summer is the one chance you have to make a career-defining decision when it comes to how much you’ll be compensated and where you’ll live and work for the next eight years. AKA the rest of your prime. The best years you have remaining in a short playing career where you only have this kind of earning power for so long.
Wouldn’t you at least consider your options?
Wouldn’t you at least consider that the organizational decision makers might not be as smart as they think they are? Or that even if the GM and/or the coach have the best intentions that they might not be who you want to put your trust in given their respective track record(s)?
Wouldn’t you at least consider going to an organization that might only be a center away from potentially going on a Cup run?
I don’t doubt that when it comes to Hischier, it’s not a matter of whether or not the Devils want to keep him. It’s not a matter of cap space and whether or not the Devils have enough money to make it so the next 3 generations of Hischiers never have to work a day in their lives. I’m not even sure if Hischier is the type of person who is trying to squeeze every last penny he can out of the organization in a rising cap environment. Tom Fitzgerald might not be a good GM, but if he did one thing well, it was lining up a bunch of contracts to expire at the same time as Hischier’s deal. Ondrej Palat is already gone, and Brenden Dillon and Stefan Noesen will likely be gone by the end of 2026-27, if not sooner. Having the money to pay Hischier isn’t, or shouldn’t be, an issue. Fitzgerald also has a lot of
Allain Roy’s clients under contract. Roy is Hischier’s agent. There’s a familiarity there.
The Devils should want to keep Hischier.
But what does Hischier want?
If Hischier decides he’s as fed up with the organizational incompetence as we, the fans, are, who could blame him if he told the Devils on July 1st that he’s not planning on signing a contract extension? Who could blame him if his agent presented Tom Fitzgerald (or whoever succeeds him once he’s fired) with a list of teams that Hischier would be willing to sign a contract extension with? It’s not like the Devils have a lengthy track record of winning over Hischier’s nine years here where they’ve earned the benefit of the doubt that this year is the aberration. It’s also not like the Devils have a track record of being one of the more aggressive teams like Vegas, Tampa, or Florida who will trade whatever futures they have to do for the sake of winning now.
Hischier has earned the right to decide where he wants the play for the rest of his career. And if the Devils are so incompetent when it comes to building a winner where he decides the grass is greener elsewhere, that’s not a Nico Hischier problem. That’s a New Jersey Devils problem because they, as an organization, failed him.
For what its worth, I still think the Devils ultimately get Hischier signed. But I don’t have any inside information. I’m not basing that on anything other than the fact the Devils can offer him the extra year, the Devils can pay him handsomely, the Devils know how important he is to the team, Hischier doesn’t seem like a ‘rock the boat’ type of player, and
as Greg Wyshynski so eloquently puts it,
his stuff is here.
I also don’t write all this to cause a panic in the Devils fanbase. But we’ve been down this road before with players entering contract years. Plenty of players ultimately reached free agency throughout the Devils run in the 90s, 00s, and early 10s, and the team was in much better shape then than it is right now. While I believe Hischier will ultimately stay, it’s not done until it’s done, and I’ll believe its done when it’s actually done. Until then, it’s not a done deal.
If the Devils do get him signed, they need to be serious when it comes to building a winner around him and whoever else they deem part of the solution going forward. They need to see to it that they’re not wasting the next five, six, seven, or eight years of his career like they’ve wasted the first nine. They need to see to it that Hischier doesn’t become the 37 year old a decade from now who is Cup chasing with whoever because the Devils were run so poorly as an organization that he had no choice but to Cup chase elsewhere. I can’t speak for Hischier, but I know if I were in his shoes, I’d want some assurances that the Devils are indeed all in before signing another contract here. If they’re not, why would I re-sign there in the first place?
Conversely, if they can’t get Hischier signed, the Devils are now in the undesirable position of having to try to maximize a Hischier trade that they’re not going to win because everyone knows he’s a year away from UFA. I don’t care how desirable centers are in the market. That late first round pick and that prospect who won’t be as good as Hischier is better than getting nothing with him walking as a UFA, but it’s not great either. The Devils will have a massive hole at the top of their lineup in Hischier’s absence that isn’t easily replaced. You can’t just go out and buy another 1C.
To make matters worse…..if Hischier leaves, we’ll have to start having larger questions and debates about everybody else on the roster because if you can’t win with this group with him, you’re certainly not winning without him. It will take time to replace a Hischier and it probably is only getting done properly through the draft. It might make more sense to retool or rebuild and jettison as many 30+ year old players off the roster as you can rather than fight a battle you can’t win trying to compete without him.
Unfortunately for the Devils, they don’t really get to decide any more than, say, the Flames got to decide whether or not Matthew Tkachuk was going to stay. With the player a year away from UFA, he’s the one with the leverage. Hischier will have the hammer, or the trump card, or whatever you choose to call it, and he’s well within his right to swing it.
It’s the Devils’ responsibility to give Hischier reasons to stay, and if they fail to do so, that’s on them.
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