- League sources told The Athletic the Wild have not talked Quinn Hughes with the Devils or anyone else
- One source called the trade chatter “made up” and worse
- Read below for where the extension actually stands and the number Minnesota may have to pay
The Minnesota Wild are not shopping Quinn Hughes, and the people around the negotiation are finished being polite about the idea.
Michael Russo of The Athletic reported Tuesday that league sources emphatically shot down reports the Wild have engaged the New Jersey Devils, or any other club, in trade talks about their star defenseman. One source, granted anonymity to speak about private negotiations, called the rumors “bulls—,” “made up” and “invented BS by bloggers.”
You can see why the Devils version caught on. Jack and Luke Hughes both play in New Jersey, and the Devils sat near the center of the speculation last year when Vancouver made Quinn available.
What is actually happening is slower and far less fun. Minnesota keeps talking with agent Pat Brisson about term, average annual value and structure, and Russo wrote there is no internal urgency to finish it this week.
They would still like it wrapped before camp. They watched fan anxiety build all last fall during the Kirill Kaprizov negotiation and have no interest in a repeat.
Elliotte Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast this week that the two sides have gone quiet, which is the part that keeps the rumor mill fed. Owner Craig Leipold guaranteed back in June that Minnesota would re-sign him.
Hughes plays this season on an $8.25 million salary and a $7.85 million cap hit. The market sprinted past that number over the summer.
Kaprizov signed for eight years at $17 million. Leo Carlsson got a five-year, $18 million offer sheet from Philadelphia that Anaheim matched, and Macklin Celebrini landed five years at $18.8 million in San Jose.
Russo did the math on where that leaves Hughes. Kaprizov took roughly 16.3 percent of this season’s $104 million ceiling, and the same slice of the projected $113.5 million cap would put Hughes around $18.5 million a year. Push him a little higher as one of the game’s best defensemen and it climbs toward $19 million or $20 million.
Cale Makar is the other domino. Colorado’s defenseman is also entering the final year of his deal, either one could reset the market, and both camps may be content to let the other go first.
Minnesota has spent its summer counting down to him. The team’s social feed has been running a “Quinncredible” countdown to opening night, which is not how a franchise treats a player it plans to move:
Wild camp opens Sept. 16 with the first on-ice session a day later. Bill Guerin has about three weeks to turn a denial into a signature.
