Wild will sign Quinn Hughes to new contract, owner says

The Minnesota Wild will sign Quinn Hughes to a new contract and would like to make it a long-term deal, owner Craig Leipold said.

The defenseman is entering the final season of a six-year, $47.1 million contract ($7.85 million average annual value) he signed with the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 3, 2021. He would be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent after next season.

In an interview with Minnesota Public Radio posted online Wednesday, Leipold was asked whether the Wild would re-sign Hughes and what lengths the team would go to in order to retain him.

“First of all, Quinn Hughes is an extraordinary player and an extraordinary person,” Leipold said. “We had to give up a lot to get him in this past year. We are going to re-sign him. The question will be for how long. We would like to go as long as we could. He will probably want it to be a little shorter -- shorter being maybe three years. We hopefully will end up at five, I don’t know, and the reason I can openly talk about this is that I’m not doing the negotiating.”

The Wild acquired Hughes, 26, in a trade with the Canucks on Dec. 12. Vancouver received forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren, defenseman Zeev Buium and a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Asked what kind of voice he has in the organization when it comes to big decisions such as Hughes’ future, Leipold said, “I have a voice, and (general manager Bill Guerin) knows it’s just a voice. I am first a fan of the Wild, and I’m second the owner. And when I give him recommendations and ideas, I’m giving it to him as a fan.”

Hughes said following this season that he was open to re-signing with Minnesota.

"I mean, I really like it here," Hughes said May 15, two days after the Wild were eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche with a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round. "We'll see what Billy wants to do."

Guerin said three days later that re-signing Hughes was the top priority for the Wild this offseason.

“We loved having Quinn,” Guerin said. “He was so impactful, he’s extremely dialed in on what’s going on here. I know he liked it here, I know he likes the team. The team really embraced him.

“I love having him here, and the impact that he had on our team was incredible. These are things that take time and I think everybody needs a little bit of time to decompress, but that’s priority (No.) 1.”

Hughes had 76 points (seven goals, 69 assists) in 74 games this season, including 53 points (five goals, 48 assists) in 48 games following the trade. He was second among NHL defensemen in assists, behind Evan Bouchard of the Edmonton Oilers (74), and eighth overall.

Hughes tied forward Kirill Kaprizov for the Wild lead with 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games, finishing plus-10.

Selected by the Canucks with the No. 7 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Hughes has 485 points (66 goals, 419 assists) in 507 regular-season games for Vancouver and Minnesota, and 41 points (six goals, 35 assists) in 41 playoff games.