The Minnesota Wild have spent the offseason juggling bigger fires, but the clock is now clearly ticking toward the most important one: Quinn Hughes.
Bill Guerin came into the summer with a long list of unfinished business, and plenty of it is still sitting there. Minnesota still hasn’t landed the high-end center it has chased for more than 25 years, even as the club continues to wait for Detroit to get serious about moving Dylan Larkin. At the same time, the Wild have watched Marcus Johansson, Mats Zuccarello and Vladimir Tarasenko walk out the door, leaving behind three top-9 - maybe top-6 - spots that now have to be patched over with younger, less established options such as Bobby Brink, Maxim Shabanov and Blake Coleman.
That’s the backdrop as the focus shifts back to Hughes, whose contract extension has been waiting in the wings while the Wild and agent Pat Brisson handled the more immediate business. According to Sarah McLellan of the Star Tribune, Minnesota is now turning its attention to getting Hughes locked up long term.
That was always the plan to some extent. Hughes, 26, is still under contract for one more season, so it made sense for the Wild to deal with the urgent needs first. But with free agency settled and the Larkin situation apparently at a standstill, the extension talks have become the offseason’s biggest priority.
And for good reason. Guerin paid a massive price to bring Hughes over from the Vancouver Canucks, effectively emptying much of the farm system to get him. That kind of move only makes sense if the Wild believe Hughes is part of the foundation for the long haul.
The numbers from his first season in Minnesota tell the story. After the trade, Hughes finished with 5 goals and 48 assists while averaging 27:54 of ice time per game.
He also posted a 59.3 Corsi percentage, a 59.8 Fenwick percentage, a 7.4 point share and 9.5 expected plus-minus. Those are elite figures, even if the season still felt a little uneven by his standards, especially in the advanced metrics.
That kind of dip is hardly surprising after a move like this, and it only adds to the sense that there’s more to come.
McLellan did not have much to offer on the exact length or dollar figure of the next deal, but the broad outlines are starting to come into view. Minnesota would like the full eight years, or seven if Hughes waits until the new CBA takes effect on September 16. There has also been speculation that he could prefer a three-year term to line up with his younger brother Jack in New Jersey.
As for the money, McLellan estimated Hughes could land somewhere in the $15 million to $18 million AAV range, though she also left open the possibility of a discount similar to what other stars have done in recent offseasons, including Connor McDavid at $12.5 million AAV and Jack Eichel at $13.5 million AAV.
The market for top defensemen is about to get very expensive. Hughes and Colorado’s Cale Makar are both due for extensions this summer, and that alone could push the standard well beyond Erik Karlsson’s $11.5 million cap hit with Pittsburgh, which is currently the highest for a defenseman in the NHL.
For Minnesota, the case for urgency is obvious. Hughes changed the way the Wild played last season, taking puck-carrying and rush duties off the shoulders of Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy, who all benefited from the extra freedom. With the roster now younger and less proven, locking Hughes into the long-term picture matters even more.
In Other News...
Wild Had A Painful Reason For Letting Zuccarello Walk
Mats Zuccarellos departure from Minnesota came with more context than a simple free-agent loss. The veteran winger signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings, and the Wilds decision to let him walk appears tied to a broader offensive recalibration, one aimed at creating more balance and more speed throughout the lineup. For a team that has leaned heavily on its top talents, the move signals a desire to make opponents defend more than one obvious threat.
The Wild are trying to spread scoring chances around instead of letting one familiar partnership drive so much of the attack, and that is where Maxim Shabanov enters the picture as part of the next wave. There is also the possibility of more change up the middle, which only adds to the sense that Minnesota is still reshaping its identity after moving on from a player who had become a central piece of its offensive structure. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Have Zero Margin For Error With Their Top Offseason Priority
The offseason has already given Minnesota a few useful pieces to sort through, including the trade with Calgary that brought in Olli Maatta and Blake Coleman. Maatta adds a veteran presence and championship experience to a blue line that needed some reinforcement, while the decision to bring back Nick Foligno gives the Wild a familiar layer of depth and stability as they map out the months ahead.
Even with those moves, the front office knows the biggest work still sits on the to-do list. The preseason schedule is out and hockey is still a couple months away, but the real pressure point is making sure the rosters most important defensive piece is locked in before the summer starts to slip away. [Read more 🡒]
Calvin Pickard Signing Raises A Bigger Wild Goaltending Concern
The Wilds latest goaltending move is less about solving a long-term problem than keeping the position afloat while Filip Gustavsson is out. Calvin Pickard arrives with plenty of NHL and AHL mileage, and Minnesota is betting that its tighter defensive structure can help a veteran who has had stretches of competence even if his recent results have been uneven. For a team that has spent plenty of time trying to stabilize the crease, Pickard is a workable bridge, but not the kind of addition that quiets the bigger questions surrounding the depth chart.
Pickards fit will be judged as much by context as by raw numbers, because last season in Edmonton was rough and the Oilers team defense did him few favors. Minnesota is hoping for a cleaner environment and a steadier workload, which could make him look more like the dependable stopgap he has been at his best. The larger concern is what happens once Gustavsson is healthy again, since the Wild still have to sort out how this goalie picture looks beyond the short term. [Read more 🡒]