- Elliotte Friedman is sticking with his prediction that Quinn Hughes signs a three-year deal at $18 million per season
- Friedman says he will start worrying if the extension is not done by opening night
- Read below for the contract math, the Jack Hughes wrinkle and the Sept. 15 term deadline
Elliotte Friedman still has a number in mind for Quinn Hughes.
The Sportsnet insider was asked about the stalled extension talks in Minnesota during Friday’s edition of NHL Tonight, and he repeated the projection he has carried since the spring: three years, $18 million a season.
“I have believed that Hughes is going to sign 3×18 in Minnesota. That is my prediction. And now people are starting to wonder what’s going on here. And I don’t have any panic about it yet,” Friedman said.
Three years at $18 million comes out to $54 million and would make Hughes the highest-paid player in Wild history by cap hit. Kirill Kaprizov sits at $17 million.
Friedman did put a marker down on how long he is willing to wait. Catch the clip from NHL Tonight:
His explanation for the delay was a lot lighter than the speculation around it. Friedman passed along a line he heard from someone else in the business.
“They said, Quinn Hughes has been too busy having fun this summer with Jack to worry about signing an extension. Like, you can’t find them anywhere. They’re out,” Friedman said.
There is one year left on the six-year, $47.1 million contract Hughes signed in Vancouver, a $7.85 million cap hit that stopped looking like market value a long time ago. Bill Guerin said last week that he has been talking to the camp all along and called it a process.
Term is the piece nobody has settled. A three-year deal would line Hughes’ expiry up with brother Jack’s contract in New Jersey, while Minnesota would rather go as long as the rules allow.
Sept. 15 is the last day a team can hand its own player an eight-year extension. The new CBA drops that maximum to seven the following day, the same calendar problem hanging over Cale Makar in Colorado.
Price is the other moving piece, and the top of the market moved under everyone this summer.
“I do think that the jump to 18 and then 18.8, at the very least it’s probably thrown a little bit of a challenge in there for all these teams to narrow down these numbers,” Friedman said, pointing at the Macklin Celebrini deal that reset the ceiling.
Minnesota knows exactly what it is buying. Hughes put up 53 points in 48 games after the December trade out of Vancouver, then added 15 in 11 playoff games as the Wild won a round for the first time in 11 years.
Watch the full Friedman segment on NHL Network:
Opening night is Oct. 1 in Nashville. Guerin has five weeks before the eighth year comes off the table entirely.
