Every day passes without a Quinn Hughes extension, and the conversation around his future gets a little louder.
It has now been three weeks since Hughes became eligible to sign a contract extension, and the situation is starting to feel different than it did at the beginning. He still has a contract for next season, and that deal has him making less than $8 million per year while standing as one of the three best defensemen in the league. But the clock is clearly ticking on that bargain.
Nobody is seriously expecting Hughes to reach free agency. The assumption remains that he will re-sign before July 1, 2027. The surprise is that it hasn’t happened already.
That’s part of why Nico Hischier’s situation keeps coming up. Hischier, who was in a very similar spot, signed a five-year deal worth less than $12 million per season on July 1.
Since then, most Devils fans haven’t had to think much about it. Hughes, on the other hand, is still unsigned.
The reporting around the deal has also started to sound less certain. There’s a growing belief that the finish line is a long-term agreement in Minnesota, where Hughes was traded to last season. But the obvious question hangs over everything: why hasn’t he and Bill Guerin already sat down and worked through the details?
Part of the answer, at least from the way the summer has unfolded, is that Hughes has been everywhere except Minnesota. He has spent the summer with his brothers, showed up at Fanatics Fest in New York City, and watched the World Cup Final with Jessica Alba in New Jersey. None of that points to a player locked in on Minnesota, and training camp is only about six weeks away.
He also hasn’t spent any time in Minnesota since the team was eliminated.
That’s where the pressure starts to build for the Wild. Fans can say what they want, but the longer this drags on, the more it starts to look like Hughes is being escorted toward free agency, and maybe toward a contract with the Devils.
The Wild’s roster only adds to the concern. The team is viewed as taking a step back, and plenty of people think this season could be even worse than last year’s. They’re one injury away from real trouble, with Kirill Kaprizov, Brock Faber, Matthew Boldy, and Joel Eriksson-Ek all named as players whose absence would leave them with no real depth to absorb the blow.
Minnesota, in other words, cannot afford to enter the season without an extension in place.
There’s also the matter of how this would end if it keeps going. Guerin is not going to trade Hughes to the Devils.
The path, as laid out here, would be to move him as a premium rental before ever sending him to New Jersey. That leaves the Wild with two real outcomes: a three-year deal, or Hughes ending up with the Devils.
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Quinn Hughes Just Gave Devils Fans Another Reason To Dream
Quinn Hughes is still under contract for the next NHL season, but his long-term future remains unsettled, and that alone is enough to keep Devils fans watching every offseason breadcrumb. The speculation around him has only grown because he has been spending the summer in New Jersey and New York rather than Minnesota, with training camp about six weeks away and the clock starting to feel a lot louder for everyone involved.
For New Jersey, the intrigue is obvious: a player of Hughes caliber lingering in the region naturally invites dream scenarios, even if nothing official has been announced. The Wild still have time to sort out their end of the business, whether that means a new deal or another path entirely, but the longer this stretches into late summer, the more it starts to feel like one of those situations that could reshape the conversation around both teams before the season even begins. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Just Lost The Trade Target Fans Wanted Most
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With that door closed, the pressure shifts to the next tier of possibilities and the Devils own lineup puzzle. New Jersey still has a clear need in its top six, and the remaining premium names are not exactly plentiful, which is why the discussion now turns to whether the club can land one more impact forward or has to pivot to a different kind of fit altogether. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Roster Crunch Is Starting To Feel Bigger Than Expected
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That kind of squeeze is what turns the rest of the summer into more than a simple finishing touch. With the offseason still not necessarily over, every addition or internal push has to fit into a lineup that is already tight, and the next move could say a lot about how the Devils plan to manage the roster without creating a problem somewhere else. [Read more 🡒]