The Wild just got their price point if they hope to lock up star defenseman Quinn Hughes for the next several years.
On Friday, the Colorado Avalanche announced they have come to terms with their own star defenseman Cale Makar on a record-breaking eight-year contract that will pay $20.4 million AAV. The deal makes Makar the highest-paid player in NHL history.
Makar’s deal is also a benchmark that Quinn Hughes and his agent will likely use in their ongoing negotiations with the Wild.
This season, Hughes is entering the final year of a six-year deal worth $7.8 million AAV that he signed with Vancouver in 2021. Minnesota and Hughes have been locked into negotiations throughout the summer. Following the team’s playoff elimination in May, Hughes told Twin Cities media that he would “definitely be open to re-signing.”
However, three months later, there has seemingly been little movement toward a deal. Makar’s contract talks could be a reason, argued league insider Elliotte Friedman earlier this week.
“Part of me has wondered if maybe they’re looking to see who will go first,” Friedman said when discussing how Hughes’ and Makar’s contract situations could be impacting each other.
Both Hughes and Makar are widely considered two of the best, if not the best, defensemen in the league. It’s likely that both were looking at the other, waiting for one to sign first in order to then ink a bigger deal.
Now with Makar setting the price, seemingly all that’s left is to agree on the term. It’s been heavily speculated that Quinn would like to time out an extension to line up with the end of his brother Jack’s contract in New Jersey, with the idea of the duo hitting free agency together in 2030.
Wild owner Craig Leipold alluded to that earlier this summer, telling MPR that the organization would “like to go as long as we could,” but that Hughes will “probably want it to be a little shorter.” Leipold noted that “shorter” meant somewhere around three years, which would match the timeline that has been speculated.
The deadline for an eight-year extension is Sept. 15, with the new CBA kicking in and limiting contracts to seven years. Now that Makar has gone first in the proverbial star defenseman standoff, the clock ticks louder on Wild GM Bill Guerin and Hughes to agree to a deal.
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This story was originally published by Bring Me The Sports on Aug 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the MN Wild section. Add Bring Me The Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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