While the NHL world spends the off-season watching big names move around, fans and analysts can't help but wonder if Quinn Hughes will be a part of the conversation. 

Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold suggests everyone can stop wondering. 

According to Leipold, there's no reason to imagine Quinn Hughes joining his brothers, Jack and Luke Hughes, with the New Jersey Devils. There's no reason to think of a scenario where he isn't part of the Wild organization. Leipold is hinting that he already knows something the rest of us don't.

Hughes, 26, has the chance to test free agency in 2027, where he could get a massive deal from a team willing to go all-in for a Norris Trophy winner in his prime. The thought that he would be tempted to test free agency opens the door to trade chatter.

But the Wild don't appear to be operating under that assumption. They sound like a team that already knows how this ends, with Hughes becoming eligible to sign a contract extension on July 1.

"We are going to re-sign him," Leipold said in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio on Wednesday. "The question will be for how long. We would like to go as long as we could. He will probably want it to be a little shorter, shorter being maybe three years. We hopefully will end up at five."

That's not the language of an owner hoping for the best. That sounds like someone who's already had a real conversation and feels he's been told there's nothing to worry about.

GM Bill Guerin and Hughes' agent, Pat Brisson, haven't gotten into the finer details of a contract yet, but Guerin and Hughes met in person on the Jersey Shore recently, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo.

Read into that what you will, but teams don't walk away from those meetings sounding that confident or making such definitive statements unless the message was passed along. 

Hughes should be eager to stay, anyway. 

The Wild have done everything they can to show him their plan is to build a contender. The team isn't done either. Speculation is that they're looking to add one of centers Vincent Trocheck or Dylan Larkin.

The narrative of the three Hughes brothers reuniting is compelling, especially after Brady Tkachuk was traded to the Florida Panthers, where his brother, Matthew Tkachuk, has spent the past four seasons.

But since Hughes was traded to the Wild from the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 12, he has spent time in Minnesota, seen what Guerin is building and should understand his odds of landing in a better situation are slim.

If Hughes wants to win, it's with the Wild that he'll likely have the best success. 

The Wild have incredible wingers, led by Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy. 

They have a top two-way center in Joel Eriksson Ek and a stacked blueline with Hughes, Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin in the top four. 

Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson make up a solid tandem.

The only thing really missing is another top-two center.

So the question is not why Hughes would want to re-sign with the Wild or whether he could pass up on more money in free agency next year. Hughes will make what the market for a star like him commands. Only Cale Makar and Zach Werenski are really in that ballpark as well.

The term of a new contract seems like the biggest uncertainty now for the Wild and Hughes. 

A three-year contract would act like a 'prove-it deal' to the Wild, which have a short window to try to win the Stanley Cup or at least show they can contend for it for a while.

As Leipold said, however, the team wants to lock Hughes in for as long as they can. That would give the core some stability through 2030 and beyond.

That's what the Wild are likely dealing with, not whether Hughes is trying to catch the first bus out of town.

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