Wild Remain Confident That Quinn Hughes Will Sign Extension

The Minnesota Wild remain confident that star defenseman Quinn Hughes will sign an extension with the club, head coach John Hynes told Star Tribune Sports. Hughes has one year remaining on the six-year, $47.1MM deal he signed with the Vancouver Canucks in 2021. The looming expiration made him eligible to sign an extension on July 1st, something the Wild have yet to vindicate.

Hughes has said that he is open to an extension in Minnesota, though those statements have been clouded by the likelihood that his next contract is a three-year deal to align with brother Jack Hughes, whose contract with the New Jersey Devils expires in 2030. Debating the term could be the piece that keeps the eldest Hughes from finding a new deal in Minnesota before the 2026-27 season kicks off. The Wild could be on the hook for a major increase in pay if that’s the case, with Colorado Avalanche star Cale Makar likely to set the market with his looming contract extension. Hughes scored 68 points in 59 games with the Wild after joining the club partway through the season.

That is a 95-point pace across 82 games, a mark that would narrowly beat out the 92-point career-high that Hughes set in 2023-24. Behind a high-octane Wild offense, it’s not unlikely that Hughes can become the first member of his family to crest the 100-point mark. If that occurs, Minnesota could end up signing their top defender to a deal north of $17MM or $18MM, even if it’s only for a few seasons. After giving up top youngsters Marco Rossi and Zeev Buium, among other things, to acquire Hughes – netting five seasons of his support would go much further than only landing two.

The Wild will move through the rest of the summer with that anxiety in mind. Signing a deal sooner rather than later could come with a contingency on term, while waiting could give the former Norris Trophy-winner a chance to find another gear or follow behind the mark set by his superstar peers. Any situation will put the Wild in a tough spot, as they anticipate a 2027 summer marked by Ryan Hartman, Blake Coleman, Jared Spurgeon, and Jesper Wallstedt potentially reaching free agency – in addition to Hughes.