The Minnesota Wild are actively trying to get a deal done with superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes. He’s going into the last year of his contract, and he’s eligible to sign an extension. He can sign an extension for up to eight years from now until September 15th, when the new CBA cuts contracts to a maximum of seven years. The expectation is that this is not on the table for the Hughes negotiations, as the Wild owner, Craig Leipold, said that he’s looking for a three-year deal.
Things have been quiet on the Quinn Hughes front for months, with him spending his offseason with his brothers in New Jersey, Florida, and Michigan. He has been seen skating with other NHL players, including Wild target Dylan Larkin.
While no contract has been agreed to, the expectation is that it is going to happen. Everything that we hear from the Wild side is that they are confident it is going to happen. Yet, things keep happening that put more pressure on the deal. First, the Leo Carlsson deal pushed max contracts higher. Carlsson is not one of the best players in the world like Hughes is. Yet, he’s making a ton of money and isn’t even signed for the max.
Then, Cale Makar signed for eight years with a cap hit of $20.4 million per season. That officially put the pressure on. The excuse was always that as long as Makar wasn’t signed, there was no real reason for Hughes to sign. Those excuses are over now, and since Makar signed his deal, all eyes have been on Bill Guerin to get a deal done with Hughes.
Now, another eight-year deal might put some pressure on Guerin to get the most out of Hughes as possible.
Zeev Buium signed an eight-year deal just months after the Quinn Hughes trade
The Vancouver Canucks announced on Friday evening that defenseman Zeev Buium, who was the centerpiece of the Quinn Hughes return, was signing an eight-year extension worth a total of $75 million. Buium was up and down with the Canucks, but he showed incredible promise with the Wild earlier in the season. At just 20 years old, the expectation is that he will grow into one of the better players at the position.
That contract is directly tied to Guerin. The Canucks know they have Buium for the next nine seasons under contract. The Wild don’t know if they are going to have Hughes on the roster when the season starts. They expect him to be, but if these contract negotiations go really badly, then anything is possible.
While the Buium contract looks incredibly expensive, it’s more than half of what Hughes is expected to get, and he’s signed for close to a decade. It gives the Canucks time to grow into their newly found youth.
The Wild have no time to grow. They have to win now. Hughes is really their only chance to win now. If they accept even an equal package to what they gave up for Hughes, it will be mostly futures. That means that an already top-heavy Wild roster will rely even more on its stars to compete in the brutal Central Division.
Anyone saying there is no pressure on the Wild is either lying or kidding themselves. Even if the negotiations are going great, the fact that they aren’t done and that others are getting done around them has fans turning on the process.
And Devils fans, and hopefully Sunny Mehta, will be here waiting as soon as he becomes available.
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