Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin said that he is “confident” his team will get an extension done with defenseman Quinn Hughes.
The Wild sent a package of players, prospects, and draft picks to the Vancouver Canucks this past season for Hughes, who immediately showed Minnesota why he is regarded as one of the NHL’s elite defensemen, as he scored 53 points in 48 regular-season games for the Wild, plus 15 more points in 11 playoff games.
It’s no wonder that Minnesota wants to extend the 26-year-old American to a long-term contract, as he has just one year and $7.85 million left on his current deal
However, to this point, Minnesota hasn’t had any success in getting a deal done on a long-term contract extension. Guerin, though, is confident the team will get something done.
Bill Guerin ‘Confident’ in Quinn Hughes Extension
Speaking to “Judd’s Hockey Show” on SKOR North Radio from the Minnesota State Fair, Guerin said that he is “confident” that he will sign Hughes long-term.
“I’m confident. That’s the luxury I have of being on the inside. There’s always the other side of it. I can be confident, you can be insecure, you just have to work through the process of the negotiations, figuring out what the player wants, what it will take to keep him, make him happy,” Guerin said (via NHL.com).
As for specifics, Guerin said that he couldn’t get into them since he is actively negotiating a contract with Hughes’s representatives, only that he believes they will ultimately get a deal done that both sides are happy with.
“This is the tough part, because I’m in the negotiations and I know everything that’s going on within the negotiations. I can’t really say the ins and outs of it because it’s not what you do. The only thing I can say is we have a great relationship with Quinn. The team, me personally, I have a great relationship with his agent. Things are going well. We are talking all the time. There’s good communication,” Guerin said.
Bill Guerin Reflects on Cale Makar’s Extension
Guerin also mentioned Cale Makar’s record-setting extension with the Colorado Avalanche, one paying him $20.4 million per year over eight seasons, noting that it could set the bar higher for Hughes, saying that he understands and accepts the fact that Hughes’ number has gone up.
“And that works for him. Now, what we’re dealing with is these guys hit free agency a lot younger than we used to. They make more significant dollars early in their careers than ever before in the game. So when they come to be 27, 28, 29 years old and a free agent, they’ve already got a super-secure financial base. So now they can make decisions on how they want to approach the contract, whether it’s the amount the money, the term, where it is. All these other things come into play. They can be a little more choosey about it because they have the financial backing to make those decisions. I’m fine with it,” Guerin said.
Wild GM Bill Guerin ‘Confident’ Team Extends Quinn Hughes