Minnesota’s failure to reach a contract extension with pending unrestricted free agent Quinn Hughes is the reason for the increased noise around the eldest Hughes brother. Perhaps it’s because we’re deep into the dog days of summer, yet the speculation about when the Minnesota Wild will extend Quinn Hughes has fever-pitch potential.
That audible noise should be music to the ears of New Jersey Devils fans. Hope for a Hughes trinity seemed lost not that long ago. Yet, more than a month after becoming eligible, the Minnesota Wild extension for Quinn Hughes remains unaccomplished.
Ownership Made Big Claims on Wild Extending Quinn Hughes
It’s not like Minnesota hasn’t been trying, at least according to the available reporting. Owner Craig Leipold all but guaranteed that his organization could get Hughes under contract back in June. In fact, he went so far as to suggest that it was less a matter of ‘if’ and more about what the final contract term would look like. Yet, August has arrived. Training camps open next month. Minnesota has other issues on its roster that ostensibly remain unresolved.
Wild General Manager Bill Guerin has similarly addressed the ongoing talks with Hughes.
“I’m not gonna get too far into it, but I have been talking to his camp all along,” said Guerin. “These things take time; they are big decisions for players and teams, so it’s a process to work through it.
Are the New Jersey Devils Back in Play?
Certainly, some members of the NHL media have begun connecting the dots. It seems only natural that this would occur the longer this goes without the Wild extending Quinn Hughes. Not only is the eldest Hughes brother enormously talented — possibly the best defenseman on the planet — but his two younger brothers are both signed long-term in New Jersey.
Sure, there’s been consternation over the lack of consistent growth from youngest brother Luke. There’s hope that the return of Brett Pesce to an everyday role can bring out the best in Luke Hughes this season. Simultaneously, Minnesota’s acquisition of Quinn would likely ease some of Luke Hughes’s minutes.
What Could a Hughes Trade Look Like?
The problem for Minnesota is one of leverage. Even if Quinn Hughes comes out and has the best season of his career this season, they lack the leverage to recoup all the assets lost in the initial trade. Bill Guerin would certainly push hard if forced into that corner, but the Quinn Hughes suitors would be limited. If the Wild are not extending Quinn Hughes, most teams will acknowledge they’re renting the player instead of acquiring him long-term. New Jersey might be the only one confident they could get him under contract.
For the Devils, who have four first-round picks in the next two seasons, certainly one of those could be in play. For a Wild team averse to taking a major step back, they’d likely have greater interest in Devils’ top prospects like defenseman Anton Silayev and Alexander Command. Jason Pukala’s scouting organization, The Pro Hockey Group, projects Silayev as a future first-pairing defenseman. TPHG projects Command as a future second-line forward.
New GM Sunny Mehta may balk at a trade like this. While he comes from an aggressive front office background with Florida, that might not matter. Mehta might read the Quinn Hughes tea leaves and realize he can simply sign him for nothing next July.
Rental Trade Possible in Wake of Failed Wild Extension of Quinn Hughes
If the Wild are incapable of extending Quinn Hughes, multiple contending teams would still potentially be interested in him. Certainly, a competitive Wild team could choose to throw their chips in and take this to the end of the line in hopes that he’d extend. That has worked, though notable high-profile cases like Johnny Gaudreau in Calgary and John Tavares on Long Island ended with those players leaving in free agency.
If the Wild were purely hoping to recoup value on the rental market, there could be some to find. First, Hughes still has no trade protection. Second, in a rising cap environment, Minnesota would have the option of eating part of the contract and making Hughes even more affordable. Third, a competitive team would happily pay rental prices for a player like Hughes. Players like Hughes are seldom available in that market. Last season’s rental market wasn’t high-end, but John Carlson earned Washington a first-round pick and a third-round pick. That would easily be the starting point on Hughes, with likely every team making a playoff push interested. It’s not the type of trade you see as often in the NHL, though it happens in Major League Baseball.
At day’s end, expect Bill Guerin to pull out all the stops to check off the Wild extending Quinn Hughes. One possibility is tied to the potential acquisition of center Dylan Larkin. That, mixed with an ownership group ready to meet Hughes’s contract demands, could still get the job done.
Nobody should be panicking in Minnesota, but the metaphorical sharks are circling.
Devils Potential Pursuit of Quinn Hughes Could Get ‘Louder’