Quinn Hughes is entering into the final season of his current contract, but he’s in no apparent rush to sign a new one.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the Minnesota Wild superstar defenceman says he feels no obligation to get an extension signed before training camp.
“This is going to be done whenever I feel like it needs to be done,” Hughes said as part of the NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas (via NHL.com’s Dan Rosen). “I don’t feel backed up against a wall. I’m very thoughtful. I want to make sure I’m taking my time on everything and make sure I’m making a decision that is going to be good for everyone. That’s kind of where my head has been at.”
Hughes, 26, was dealt to the Wild last December by the Vancouver Canucks. Taken with the seventh overall pick of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Hughes had spent the entirety of his seven-plus NHL seasons with Canucks. In 2023, he was named the franchise’s 19th captain.
Calling his last year-plus “heavy” with the trade and his participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics where he won a gold medal as part of Team USA, Hughes says he intended to have a quiet summer.
“We haven’t had that many conversations just because of how I wanted my summer to go in terms of being fresh and resetting and enjoying and training and being around friends and family,” Hughes said. “As we get going here I’m sure it’ll heat up, but I don’t feel backed up against a wall where I have to sign before camp.”
Earlier in the day, Hughes’s younger brother, Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, threw cold water on the idea of Quinn joining Jack and other brother, Luke Hughes, with the Devils, despite him liking the suggestion.
A two-time All-Star and the 2024 Norris Trophy winner, Hughes will sign his next contract with the market for elite defencemen set earlier in the summer by the mammoth eight-year, $163.2 million deal signed by Colorado Avalanche blueliner Cale Makar. Hughes is playing out the final season of a six-year, $47.1 million deal.
The Wild open up their preseason campaign on Sept. 19 at home to the Chicago Blackhawks before their regular season bow on Oct. 1 against the Nashville Predators.
