A full month was supposed to bring clarity on Quinn Hughes, but August came and went without the Minnesota Wild and the star defenseman’s camp showing any real sign of movement.
Back at the end of July, the sense around the league was that a deal was close. Elliotte Friedman had put a marker down with the belief that something could be done “by the end of July,” while The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported that the Wild felt confident about keeping Hughes in the fold. Other outlets were still treating his return as the expected outcome.
Instead, the month that was framed as pivotal produced no public indication that negotiations had picked up. The expectation had been that the two sides would sit down multiple times in August, including an important meeting early in the month, but there has been nothing reported to show the process has accelerated.
Then came another layer to the situation: Cale Makar’s massive eight-year, $20.4 million AAV deal with the Colorado Avalanche. There had been some belief that Hughes and Makar were locked in a kind of waiting game, with Hughes holding off until Makar set the market. After Makar signed, Russo suggested that the move might “kickstart” the Hughes talks, which only underscored how quiet things had been through August.
That silence is what makes the situation feel uneasy. If the negotiations had been advancing behind the scenes, there would have been some hint by now. Instead, the reporting points to a month that passed without the expected momentum.
Bill Guerin also added to the uncertainty with comments on live air, saying there was more involved in Hughes’ decision than money and term. That comment suggested the possibility that Hughes still has his eye on playing with his brothers.
And through all of it, Hughes has kept working out alongside his brothers and friends, day after day. He’s spending more time with the two people he wants to play with most, and it would be hard to believe there hasn’t been at least some light banter about getting on the same team sooner rather than later.
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