As we mentioned at the end of July, August was a crucial 31 days for the Minnesota Wild and, in particular, the Quinn Hughes negotiations.
After all, most pundits believed that the contract would be signed by now, with Elliotte Friedman planting a flag in "by the end of July" sentiment, The Athletic scribe Michael Russo noting that the Wild were confident they would be able to retain him, and several other outlets remaining steadfast about him remaining with the organization.
The expectation was that the Wild and Hughes' camp would meet several times over the course of August, with their second important meeting taking place at the very beginning of the month. However, nothing has been reported to suggest that talks have intensified in any capacity at all.
Additionally, Cale Makar signed a monstrous, eight-year, $20.4 million AAV contract with the Colorado Avalanche. There was thought to be some game of chicken going on between the two, and that perhaps Hughes was waiting for his counterpart to sign so that he would have a good idea of the AAV he was truly seeking. After Makar signed, Russo noted that this would perhaps "kickstart" the Hughes negotiations, insinuating that they were not discussing terms at all throughout the month. That is a worrisome development, to say the least, especially given how important August was for these negotiations.
On top of that, Bill Guerin himself made some worrisome comments on live air. He suggested that there was more to Hughes' decision than money and term, subtly planting the seed that he still wants to play with his brothers.
All the while, Hughes has continued practicing day in and day out with his brothers and friends, spending more and more time alongside the two people he wants to play with the most. To think that there hasn't been friendly banter about playing on the same team sooner rather than later would be ignorant.
Now, with training camp arriving shortly, the heat should really be on in these negotiations. Everything that has been reported has suggested that there have been no steps taken to find an agreement. The clock is ticking.
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