Adding Laine

Hughes and Laine would be disgusting.

I doubt if Laine is going to refuse to sign with the CBJ. You really expect him not to play in the NHL next season? Now you are correct that the he may not sign long term with CBJ and CBJ will be looking to trade him instead of losing him to UFA in I believe the summer of 2023.

Devils aren't going to trade Mercer anytime soon
Laine and Hughes would be nasty but people are forgetting the Devils have Alexander Holtz, who has a similar playing style to Holtz

Even if Laine continues to show out the way he has this year, I still think a 4-5 year deal is the likely outcome regardless of who he signs with.

I don’t think he’s shown enough consistency or overall impact to be a $9M+ guy and/or get a 7+ year contract. Plus, he’s young enough that he’d still come out of the contract in his prime.

There is still a lot of season left, but Laine has looked like a changed man while playing on an otherwise underwhelming CBJ team. If they trade him, it’s likely because they can’t afford him/won’t pay him as much as he wants. Which, if the Johansen/Duchene/Bobrovsky/Anderson/Jones contracts have taught CBJ anything, it’s that the best contract is sometimes the one you don’t sign.

would love to see Laine in NJ but I'm not giving Mercer for him. Mercer's been the teams best forward since Hughes went down, I'd trade Nico before him.