Quinn Hughes is headed for a massive extension with the Minnesota Wild, according to Elliotte Friedman. The belief is Hughes will sign a three-year deal worth $18,000,000 per season.
That number would nearly double his current $7,850,000 cap hit.
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Hughes posted 7 goals and 76 points in 74 games this season for Minnesota under coach John Hynes, adding 32 power play assists.
He then went off in the playoffs with 15 points in 11 games before the Wild fell to Colorado in five games in the second round.
That playoff performance alone made the case for the raise.
Minnesota finished 46-24-12, seventh overall with 104 points.
They beat Dallas in six games in the first round. Hughes was the engine running the power play and driving possession from the blue line all season long.
At 26 years old, he's entering his absolute prime. The $18,000,000 number reflects that clearly.
For context, Cale Makar currently sits at $9,000,000 and his extension talks haven't started in earnest yet in Colorado. Hughes at $18,000,000 would set a new standard for what a franchise defenseman commands on the open market.
Wild locking up Hughes at $18M changes Minnesota's cap structure for years
Kirill Kaprizov is at $9,000,000. Brock Faber at $8,500,000. Jared Spurgeon at $7,575,000. Add Hughes at $18,000,000 and Minnesota's top four cap commitments alone exceed $43,000,000.
That's a tight structure for a team that still needs depth to compete deep into May and June.
GM Bill Guerin will have to be surgical about everything else on the roster.
But letting Hughes walk would be an organizational failure. You don't find players like him on the free agent market. You sign them and figure out the rest later.
Three years also gives Minnesota a window to reassess. Whether that term works for both sides is still being negotiated.
