Quinn Hughes isn’t in any rush to put pen to paper with the Minnesota Wild, and he’s not pretending otherwise.
During Wednesday’s media tour in Las Vegas, Hughes laid out exactly where things stand with his next contract. He’s entering the final year of the six-year, $47.1 million deal he signed, and while the Wild want to lock him up long term, the process is still very much open-ended as training camp nears.
“This is going to be done whenever I feel like it needs to be done,” he said. “I don’t feel backed up against a wall.”
Hughes also made it clear that the conversation hasn’t been constant between him and Wild general manager Bill Guerin. That, too, is by design.
“We haven’t had that many conversations just because of how I wanted my summer to go in terms of being fresh and resetting,” Hughes said, adding that talks are likely to pick up as camp approaches. Even so, he sounded confident the sides will land on a solution.
“I’m sure we’re gonna work it out.”
For anyone looking for hints about leverage, money, or deadlines, Hughes didn’t offer much. He wasn’t interested in talking through the financial side of the negotiation, even with Cale Makar’s eight-year, $163.2 million extension last month resetting the market for elite defensemen.
“It’s between me and Bill, and ultimately we’ll figure it out and you guys will find out at that point,” Hughes said. “It’s not going to weigh over me personally,” Hughes said.
“I mean, I’m excited to play hockey. I think if I can stay healthy I’m going to have my best season.
I feel great. So I don’t have it weighing over me, I don’t think.”
He was even more blunt when asked about the bigger picture of the decision. “At the end of the day, I got to do what’s best for myself,” Hughes said.
“I think I’ve earned that right. You play 7, 8 years to get to UFA and decide what you want to do.”
The message from Hughes was pretty clear: he expects to sort this out with the Wild, but he’s making the call on his timeline, for his reasons. He isn’t reading much into outside noise, and he isn’t letting anyone else dictate how this unfolds.
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