- Chris Johnston says Quinn Hughes is still having trouble making up his mind about his future
- Minnesota is willing to pay whatever it takes, but Hughes has not committed to signing anything
- Read below for what Bill Guerin said about Hughes wanting something other than the money
Quinn Hughes still has not told the Minnesota Wild what he wants to do.
TSN’s Chris Johnston was asked Tuesday on TSN 1050 how the Hughes contract situation plays out. His answer dropped the whole thing back in the defenseman’s lap.
“My understanding of this situation through the summer is I think he was having trouble basically making up his mind about what he wants to do for his future. There’s a desire that we’ve known for years to one day play with his brothers. I think he did enjoy his Minnesota experience after the trade was made part way through last year with Vancouver.”
Here’s the clip:
Johnston was clear that the money is not the sticking point.
“I don’t think there are any restrictions on their end in terms of making him a very wealthy man. But he has to be willing to sign it. And at least to this point I don’t think that has been committed to or something he’s ready to do.”
Cale Makar set the number in August with an eight-year, $163.2 million extension in Colorado. That $20.4 million cap hit is the new ceiling for a defenseman, and Minnesota has the room to go there.
Bill Guerin spent a Monday at the Minnesota State Fair doing radio hits, and Hughes came up on every stop. He does not think the Makar deal settles anything.
“There’s a bar with Cale Makar signing that contract in Colorado, but Quinn might be after different things. He’s a different guy. He has a different personality and has different things in his life that are important to him. Who knows what he’s gonna want in the end.”
Guerin, speaking on SKOR North, added that the Wild can map out whatever they like and it changes nothing until Hughes tells them what he wants. His line on it was blunt: “We can’t make him sign anything.”
He has been saying a version of this since exit interviews in May. Watch him call Hughes priority one back then:
The brothers are the one thing Minnesota cannot outbid. Jack and Luke Hughes both play in New Jersey, and Luke is signed there through 2031-32.
Quinn is in the final season of the six-year, $47.1 million deal he signed in Vancouver, carrying a $7.85 million cap hit. He turns 27 next month and becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Minnesota gave up Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium and a first-round pick to get him in December. Hughes put up five goals and 48 assists in 48 games in a Wild sweater and turned Brock Faber into a 60-point defenseman next to him.
Take a look at what Minnesota is trying to keep:
Camp opens later this month and Guerin still does not have an answer from the best defenseman his franchise has ever dressed.
