From Leo Carlsson to Macklin Celebrini to Cale Makar, the bar for highest cap hit around the National Hockey League has been continuously reset this off-season.
Makar was the latest to set a new record, signing a gargantuan eight-year, $163.2 million contract extension with the Colorado Avalanche on Aug. 28 that kicks in next season with a $20.4 million cap hit.
The next star defenceman set to cash in next season is Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild, who is heading into the final year of his six-year, $47.1 million deal.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin said on SKOR North Radio from the Minnesota State Fair Monday that Hughes, who is eligible to sign a new deal, may not necessarily look to match Makar’s deal financially.
“There’s a bar with Cale Makar signing that contract in Colorado, but Quinn might be after different things,” said Guerin. “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?”
Hughes, the 2023-24 Norris Trophy winner, had five goals and 53 points in 48 games for the Wild last season after being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster deal on Dec. 12. The 26-year-old blueliner had four goals and 15 points in playoff games before Minnesota lost in the second round to Colorado.
He also helped the United States win gold at the 2026 Olympics.
“The only thing I can say is we have a great relationship with Quinn,” said Guerin of the negotiations. “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.”
The Wild have a several players already locked in for the future, including winger Kirill Kaprizov, who reset the market last year by signing an eight-year, $136 million extension with an AAV of $17 million that kicks in this season.
Guerin said he remains confident that the Wild can keep Hughes.
“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.”
