- Wild coach John Hynes says he’s “very optimistic” Quinn Hughes signs an extension before next season
- The holdup isn’t whether a deal gets done but how long it runs, with Hughes leaning short and Minnesota pushing longer
- Read below for the three-year versus five-year gap and why Hughes wants to line up with brother Jack
Minnesota isn’t sweating whether it keeps Quinn Hughes. The Wild are just trying to keep him long enough.
Coach John Hynes told the Star Tribune he’s “very optimistic” the team gets an extension done with its star defenseman before the 2026-27 season starts.
Hynes was asked why he feels so good about it, and he pointed to how well Hughes has settled in since the trade.
“I think he really enjoys Minnesota. He enjoys the team. He’s got a good relationship with Billy, myself, the coaches, and I think he feels like he’s got good teammates. He’s been very successful from an individual standpoint, which has certainly helped our team. So I feel there’s a lot of good things where this is a really attractive place for Quinn to want to be.”
The confidence runs to the top of the building. Owner Craig Leipold was asked back in June about the odds of getting a deal done, and he didn’t hedge.
“We are going to re-sign him. The question will be for how long,” Leipold told The Hockey News. “We would like to go as long as we could. He will probably want it to be a little shorter, shorter being maybe three years. We hopefully will end up at five.”
That “how long” is the entire negotiation. Hughes wants something in the three-year range, which would line his next crack at free agency up with brother Jack, whose Devils contract runs through 2030. The Wild want the security of five.
The money looks settled. We reported earlier this month that David Pagnotta had the two sides closing in, with the number starting north of $17 million a year.
It’s easy to see why Minnesota is desperate to lock him up. Hughes is the kind of defenseman who makes plays nobody else on the ice is thinking about:
He backed up the hype the second he arrived. Since the December blockbuster, Hughes put up 53 points in 48 games and led the entire NHL in ice time at more than 27 minutes a night. It started on night one in a Wild sweater.
Take a look at Hughes scoring in his Minnesota debut:
Hughes has one year left on his deal and can walk as an unrestricted free agent next summer if nothing gets signed. Minnesota has until then to close a two-year gap on the calendar.
