The Cale Makar extension didn’t just make the Colorado Avalanche superstar a very rich man. It also made Quinn Hughes a much richer one.
Makar agreed to an extension on Friday that will pay him $20.4 million annually, beginning with the 2027-28 season. More importantly for Hughes, that contract represents roughly 18 percent of the Avalanche’s projected salary-cap allocation for next season.
That’s the number that matters.
Hughes now has a very strong argument that he deserves something approaching the same percentage of his team’s cap. In fact, he could reasonably push for the full 20 percent, which would put him at the maximum salary allowed under the NHL’s salary structure.
Whether the Minnesota Wild are willing to go that far is another question entirely.
But there’s little doubt someone will.
Hughes is an elite defenseman in his prime, and Makar’s contract has given his camp another powerful negotiating chip. The question isn’t really whether Hughes can get paid.
It’s whether Minnesota is prepared to be the team that pays him.
The Wild Are Suddenly in a Tough Spot Thanks to Cale Makar
The Minnesota Wild have a significant amount of cap space to work with.
PuckPedia projects the club to have nearly $46 million available, which sounds like plenty until you consider what Hughes could command.
If Hughes pushes toward the kind of money Cale Makar just secured, roughly half of Minnesota’s available cap space could disappear on one player.
That’s an enormous commitment.
And it puts the Wild in a difficult position. Paying Hughes should be an easy decision if the only question is whether he’s worth the money. He is. The bigger concern is what happens to the rest of the roster after the check gets written.
Minnesota can’t simply hand Hughes a massive contract and assume everything else will work itself out.
The Wild still need to build a competitive team around him.
That’s particularly important because an NHL roster isn’t built around one defenseman, no matter how good he happens to be. Minnesota would need enough room to pay its other stars, fill out the forward group and maintain quality throughout the blue line and in goal.
If the Wild determine that Hughes’ price is simply too high, they could face an uncomfortable alternative.
Trade him.
That would be an enormous decision, but it could become unavoidable if the organization concludes it can’t construct a championship-caliber roster while carrying Hughes’ contract.
And that possibility is precisely why the Cale Makar extension matters so much.
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Quinn Hughes Could Be Looking for the Max
There is another possibility that might make all of this Cale Makar situation considerably more interesting.
Hughes could simply wait for the market to dictate his future and eventually sign a maximum-term contract.
If that happens, the most logical destination may not be Minnesota at all.
It could be New Jersey.
Hughes has brothers Jack and Luke Hughes with the Devils, making New Jersey the obvious destination if the family wanted to reunite. From a hockey perspective, it would also make plenty of sense. The Devils would be adding an elite defenseman to a young, talented core that already includes his brothers.
That’s the kind of situation where Hughes could potentially feel comfortable committing for the maximum possible term.
Minnesota is a different story.
If Hughes remains with the Wild, it wouldn’t be surprising if the organization has to convince him that its long-term plan is worth buying into. A shorter-term arrangement could make sense if Hughes wants to preserve his options and see where Minnesota is headed.
That would leave the door open to New Jersey down the road.
The Cale Makar extension has therefore created a fascinating situation for Hughes.
He doesn’t necessarily have to demand the exact same $20 million salary. But he can certainly point to Makar’s contract and say that the market for elite defensemen has changed.
And somebody is going to pay him accordingly.
The only question is whether that team will be the Wild.
Cale Makar Just Made Quinn Hughes a Very Rich Man