- Bill Guerin says he has been talking to Quinn Hughes’ camp “all along” about an extension
- Hughes has one year left and can reach unrestricted free agency next July
- Read below for the Sept. 16 deadline shaping how long the Wild can go
Bill Guerin finally said something out loud about Quinn Hughes.
The Minnesota general manager joined SKOR North’s Judd’s Hockey Show on Tuesday and got asked whether he is still confident his star defenseman signs an extension. He did not hand over a guarantee.
“I’m not gonna get too far into it, but I have been talking to his camp all along. These things take time, they are big decisions for players and teams, so it’s a process to work through it.”
Guerin covered the rest of the summer in the same sitting, including his hunt for a first-line center. Catch the full 28-minute conversation:
The two sides sat down in Michigan a week ago. Nothing has been signed since.
Michael Russo of The Athletic reported the Wild want term in the five-to-eight-year range, and the calendar is the reason it matters. The new CBA takes effect Sept. 16 and drops the maximum extension to seven years, so an eight-year deal has to be done before that date or it stops existing.
Hughes has his own math to run. A three-year deal would line his expiry up with brother Jack’s contract in New Jersey, which is the version that keeps a Hughes reunion on the table. Luke is signed in Newark for six more years.
Price is the other moving piece. Kirill Kaprizov sits at a $17 million cap hit and Macklin Celebrini just signed for $18.8 million, so the number a Norris-caliber defenseman can ask for in August is not the number anyone was throwing around on July 1.
Minnesota knows exactly what it is paying for. Hughes put up 53 points in 48 games after the trade from Vancouver, then added 15 in 11 playoff games before Colorado ended the Wild’s run in the second round.
Teammates have been louder about this than the front office. Nick Foligno already made his pitch in public last week.
Training camp opens in mid-September, six weeks out. If Hughes skates onto the ice that first day without a contract, Guerin’s word choice on Tuesday is going to get read a lot more closely.
