The Minnesota Wild are still talking contract with Quinn Hughes, but league sources say the trade chatter around the superstar defenseman is nonsense.
Multiple sources pushed back hard on reports that the Wild have opened trade discussions with the New Jersey Devils - or with any team - about Hughes. One source told The Athletic on Tuesday the rumors were “bulls-,” “made up” and “invented BS by bloggers.”
What the Wild are actually doing is staying in regular contact with Hughes’ agent, Pat Brisson, as they work through term, average annual value and contract structure. The team remains confident a deal can be done before the season, and there’s no sense of internal panic about getting it wrapped up immediately. Still, Minnesota knows the longer this drags on, the louder the outside noise will get, just like it did during the Kirill Kaprizov negotiations last year.
The preference is clear: get Hughes signed before the puck drops and remove any distraction. The 26-year-old defenseman is in the final year of his contract and will make $8.25 million this season while carrying a cap hit of $7.85 million.
The numbers, though, are getting trickier by the day because the market has shifted dramatically. Since Kaprizov signed his eight-year, $17 million AAV extension last fall, Leo Carlsson landed a five-year, $18 million AAV offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers that the Anaheim Ducks matched, and Macklin Celebrini agreed to a five-year, $18.8 million AAV deal with the San Jose Sharks.
That changing landscape matters because by the time a Hughes extension would begin, the cap ceiling is projected to be $113.5 million and still climbing. Kaprizov’s deal represented about 16.3 percent of this season’s $104 million ceiling.
Apply that same percentage to the expected future cap and Hughes would land around an $18.5 million AAV in year one. If he pushes for a larger share as one of the league’s premier defensemen, the price could climb into the $19 million or $20 million range.
There’s another wrinkle sitting right beside him in the market. Colorado Avalanche star Cale Makar is also in the final year of his contract, and either player could end up resetting the bar for elite defensemen. Like Kaprizov and a wave of star forwards last season, Hughes and Makar could wind up waiting on each other.
While Hughes talks continue, the Wild are also moving toward another significant extension. League sources say coach John Hynes, who is entering the final year of his contract, is closing in on a new deal.
That extension is expected to be announced as training camp gets closer. Camp opens Sept. 16, with players on the ice for the first time Sept.
Minnesota has also filled a new role created by the latest collective bargaining agreement. Peter Thome, a former goalie at North Dakota and St.
Thomas, has been hired as the first full-time emergency backup goalie in Wild history. He’s already been on the ice during captains’ practices and will serve in a permanent EBUG role at every home game while traveling with the team on road trips.
He’ll also work as a hockey operations analyst, adding another voice to the Wild’s analytics group.
Thome, a Minneapolis native, played four seasons at North Dakota from 2017 to 2021, going 19-14-4 with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage in 45 games. His .936 save percentage in 11 games during his junior year is the best single-season mark in school history.
He also appeared in 29 games for St. Thomas in 2021-22, finishing 3-24-1 with a 4.53 GAA and a .876 save percentage.
A sixth-round pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2016, he has five ECHL games on his résumé.
After his playing days, Thome spent two seasons with the USHL’s Chicago Steel, working as an analyst in 2022-23 and then as director of hockey operations in 2023-24. He was a video coach with AHL Coachella Valley in 2024-25.
And on a different playing field, Matt Boldy, Ryan Hartman and former Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen have all received exemptions to compete in this week’s PGA Tour Americas CRMC Championship at Brainerd’s Cragun’s Legacy Courses.
Tournament director Jack Wawro said, “Their presence brings incredible energy for our local sports fans and highlights the unique, community-focused spirit of this event,” and added, “Having an Olympic gold medalist and elite Minnesota athletes competing alongside local talent like Andrew (Israelson) is going to create an amazing atmosphere for our spectators.”
The field includes 156 golfers, and the athletes will move on to the weekend only if they survive the 36-hole cut, which goes to the top 60 plus ties.
In Other News...
Wild Make An Unusual Goalie Move Fans Will Want Explained
The Wild are taking a little different approach to the NHLs new emergency goalie rules, bringing in Peter Thome as both the teams emergency backup and a hockey operations analyst. Bill Guerin announced the move as Minnesota adjusts to the leagues latest collective bargaining agreement, which now calls for clubs to keep full-time emergency backup goalies on staff rather than relying on the old, game-night scramble.
Thome brings a varied hockey background to the job, with NCAA Division I experience along with stops in the ECHL and AHL, plus work in hockey operations and video coaching. For Minnesota, it is the kind of practical, behind-the-scenes hire that fits the spirit of the rule change, but it also gives the Wild a rare look at how teams are reworking an important position that usually only draws attention in the most unusual circumstances. [Read more 🡒]
Cale Makar Contract Talk Just Shifted In A Fascinating Direction
Talk around top defensemen around the league is already getting complicated, and Minnesota has a front-row view of it through Quinn Hughes. Contract discussions between Hughes and the Wild are still ongoing, but there has not been much movement yet, which leaves the team in a familiar holding pattern as the calendar keeps turning toward the season. Across the NHL, there is plenty of other blue-line uncertainty, from Simon Edvinssons situation in Detroit to Erik Karlssons name surfacing in trade chatter in Pittsburgh.
The interesting contrast for the Wild is how another elite defensemans situation appears to be moving in a very different direction. Colorado remains confident it will get a new deal done with Cale Makar before opening night, a reminder of how quickly these talks can change when both sides are aligned. For Minnesota, the waiting continues, and the longer it goes without real progress, the more every update around the league seems to sharpen the focus on what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Former Wild Goalie Gets Another NHL Shot After Last Season
Cal Petersen is getting another opportunity to push for an NHL job, this time on a professional tryout with the Washington Capitals. It gives the veteran goaltender a chance to earn a contract at training camp after spending last season in the Minnesota Wild organization, where he was mainly in net for the Iowa Wild.
For Minnesota, Petersens path is a familiar reminder of how quickly goaltending depth can turn over from one year to the next. He brings NHL experience from multiple stops and will now try to show Washington he still has enough left to stick, with the PTO offering him a shot to keep his career moving forward. [Read more 🡒]