Devils' Jack Hughes has forever raised his perceived value on NHL contracts

Jack Hughes was already known as a promising young NHL player for the New Jersey Devils, a rising star.

His perception in the hockey world was changed forever on Sunday, though. Hughes scored the overtime game-winner to claim the gold medal for Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics over Canada.

Now, Hughes will always have a bit of extra weight to his name.

Does that mean he gets a bit extra in every contract negotiation from now on? Maybe.

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Hughes will be a guy teams want on their roster not just for the on-ice potential but also for the narrative.

Maybe a Canadian NHL team wouldn't be interested, but any of the teams in the United States would love to have him.

You can show the highlight of the goal all the time. You can market Hughes as the guy who won the gold medal for Team USA, who specifically finished the game off with the final shot.

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Maybe it's not Mike Eruzione against the Soviet Union, but 'Rizzo' has ridden the wave of that goal for 46 years. He was on the NBC pregame show Sunday morning.

Even if Hughes doesn't rise to that level, he has unquestionably risen to a higher rank than he had before.

How this does or doesn't impact the Devils remains to be seen. But clearly, Hughes' life will never be quite the same, for the best reason.

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