Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar made NHL history last week when he signed a whopping eight-year, $163.2 million contract extension that will likely keep the blue-liner in the Mile High City for the rest of his career.
With that precedent set, all eyes turned to the Minnesota Wild, whose quest to keep their own game-breaking dynamic defenceman for the long haul has not yet yielded the same results.
Quinn Hughes, entering his final year under contract, became eligible to sign a contract with the Wild on July 1, but with less than a month before the regular season begins, he has yet to put pen to paper on an extension.
General manager Bill Guerin is asserting that he’s in constant contact with the 2024 Norris Trophy winner but stops short of predicting how this saga will end.
“There’s no tension… Communication is good,” Guerin said to WCCO-AM’s Chat Hartman on Monday, adding that he’s spoken to Hughes numerous times over the phone throughout the off-season. “It’s just these (negotiations) take time. I always say that because it’s true.”
While that may be the case, especially when dealing with a contract sure to compare to Makar’s in magnitude, each day that passes without an agreement does little to assuage the anxiety of a fanbase that is eager to keep one of the league’s top defencemen around.
Makar and the Avalanche set a clear benchmark for the elite class of blue-liners, so one question remains: What’s the holdup?
“These guys are all individual people. I mean, could it affect you, you know, financially? Yeah. OK, there is the bar with Cale Makar signing that contract in Colorado,” Guerin said. “Quinn might be after different things. You know, he’s a different guy. He’s not Cale Makar. He’s a different personality. He’s got different things in his life that are important to him. So who knows what he’s really going to want in the end?”
The Wild acquired Hughes in December 2025 from the Vancouver Canucks and felt, at the time, that they had a good chance of signing the point-per-game man to a contract extension once he became eligible.
Guerin had already built a perennial playoff team prior to Hughes’ arrival but has since turned the Wild into a bona fide Stanley Cup contender with a real chance to win for years to come. Of course, the elephant in the room is the New Jersey Devils and their two Hughes brothers, both under contract for the foreseeable future.
To what extent is the desire to suit up alongside his brothers affecting the negotiations? Only Hughes and Guerin know.
Either way, this will continue to be the storyline to watch as we head into the 2026-27 season.