Wild’s Quinn Hughes doesn’t feel ‘backed up against the wall’ to sign before training camp

While some are concerned that the Minnesota Wild and Quinn Hughes haven’t come to an agreement on a contract extension, the 2024 Norris Trophy-winning defenseman is not one of them.

As Hughes met with the media on Wednesday for the Player Media Tour in Las Vegas, he spoke about entering the final year of his contract and how he doesn’t feel like he’s in a rush to sign a new one before training camp.

“We haven’t had that many conversations because of how I wanted my summer to go in terms of just being fresh and resetting and just focusing on enjoying it and then training and being around friends and family,” Hughes said. “But as we get going here, I’m sure it’ll heat up. But I don’t really feel backed up against the wall where I have to sign before camp.

“Obviously I really do like it there. We’ve got a great team. I love the coaches, I love Billy. Of course, it’s a spot I could see myself staying or we wouldn’t even, I mean, I could have gotten traded in the summer. But it’s a place that I think would be and has been a great fit. It was a great fit for me last year.”

Hughes is entering the final year of a six-year contract with a $7.85 million cap hit, and it’s been one of the larger talking points of the summer, especially after his closest comparable in Cale Makar signed to a massive eight-year extension with a $20.4 AAV a couple weeks ago. The pending free agency was an expected risk by the Wild when they traded for Hughes during the 2025-26 season, but the lack of a contract right now does not mean they are less likely to get a deal done.

According to PuckPedia, the Wild are currently projected to have $45,977,501 in cap space on July 1st, 2027, although that’s before any additional contract extensions to their 24 other pending free agents, including Blake Coleman, Jared Spurgeon and Jesper Wallstedt. But it does mean that Minnesota has the space to give Hughes as much money as he wants, and then work around their remaining cap space to fill out the rest of the roster, so it all depends on if Hughes wants to extend with the wild.

However, the conversation surrounding Hughes will never not include the talk of uniting with his brothers, Jack and Luke, who both currently play for the New Jersey Devils. The conversation about him playing with his brothers has existed ever since then-Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford mentioned Quinn having some desire to play with Jack and Luke in a press conference more than a year ago.

Despite the chaos of Hughes’ 2025-26 season with the trade, the Olympics and the talk of his brothers, he still had a productive season with seven goals, 69 assists and 76 points in 74 games, including 53 points in 48 games with the Wild.