General manager Bill Guerin navigates high-stakes negotiations as the Cale Makar benchmark looms, waiting for the superstar defenseman to define his priorities for a long-term extension.
Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin remains confident about the organization's chances of signing Quinn Hughes to a long-term contract, but acknowledged there is still one major question that needs to be answered:
What does Hughes want?
Guerin made the rounds at the Minnesota State Fair on Monday, appearing on WCCO Radio, SKOR North, KFAN and FOX 9, with Hughes' contract situation naturally becoming one of the biggest topics of conversation.
The NHL's defenseman market received a massive new benchmark when Colorado Avalanche superstar Cale Makar signed an eight-year, $163.2 million extension carrying a $20.4 million average annual value.
But Guerin doesn't necessarily believe Makar's contract determines what Hughes will seek from Minnesota.
“There’s a bar with Cale Makar signing that contract in Colorado, but Quinn might be after different things,” Guerin said on SKOR North. “He’s a different guy. He has a different personality and has different things in his life that are important to him. Who knows what he’s gonna want in the end.”
Minnesota can prepare for different contract structures and map out its future salary-cap picture, but the Wild can't truly know what a Hughes extension will look like until Hughes and his camp make their priorities clear.
“We can plan, we can look down the road, we can plan on what we want but then he’s got to come back, too and tell us what he wants,” Guerin said. “We can’t make him sign anything.
“We’d love to have him for as long as we can get him, if he’s got something different in his mind he wants to do, there goes our plan.”
Despite that uncertainty, Guerin continues to express confidence in the process.
“I’m confident. That’s the luxury I have of being on the inside,” Guerin said. “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 also pushed back against the idea that anything has gone wrong behind the scenes.
“The relationship is good between me and Quinn and his agent,” Guerin told WCCO. “There’s no tension. Communication has been good. I don’t have anything disheartening to say.”
Guerin added that he has spoken with Hughes numerous times over the phone throughout the offseason.
“It's just these [negotiations] take time,” Guerin said. “I always say that because it's true.”
When the conversations turn specifically toward money and contract terms, however, Guerin deals with Hughes' agent, Pat Brisson.
“We have that kind of relationship,” Guerin said of his communication with Hughes. “Which in my mind is healthy. When it comes down to brass tacks, I deal with Pat Brisson, his agent. You don’t deal with players.”
Guerin has been here before.
At roughly the same point last offseason, questions surrounded Kirill Kaprizov's future in Minnesota. Kaprizov was entering the final season of his contract before eventually agreeing to an eight-year, $136 million extension carrying a $17 million annual cap hit on Sept. 30.
“A year ago today the same questions were being asked about Kirill and I just tried to talk people off the ledge,” Guerin said. “These things take time. There is a lot of things for teams and players to consider and think about.”
The calendar could soon start working in Minnesota's favor.
Guerin noted that there isn't much urgency during June, July and August. With training camp and the regular season approaching, that changes.
“I just think now, getting closer to the season and training camp, it heats up a bit,” Guerin said. “The relationship is there. It’s good.”
He also addressed the constant outside speculation surrounding Hughes' future.
From mock trades to New Jersey fans claiming Quinn will be traded to the Devils and everything in between, Guerin says it’s all just noise.
“There’s just so much outside noise with podcasters and guys like that, Instagram guys, TikTok,” Guerin said. “Things are good. I feel like I’m pretty honest in my interviews. There are things I just can’t say, but communication is really good.”
For the Wild, Makar's record-breaking contract provides another data point. It doesn't necessarily provide the answer.
Hughes' eventual deal could come down to considerably more than simply matching the market's highest-paid defenseman. Term, annual salary, Minnesota's ability to build a contender around him and Hughes' own priorities could all factor into the equation.
Guerin doesn't know exactly where those discussions will ultimately land.
But after an offseason of speculation surrounding one of the biggest contracts in franchise history, Minnesota's general manager continues to publicly communicate the same message:
He's confident, the relationship remains strong and the process is moving forward.
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