The Minnesota Wild are trying to sign Quinn Hughes to an extension this summer and there’s a good chance it will happen. After transforming the Wild into Stanley Cup contenders after a trade with the Vancouver Canucks last season, Hughes has been the key to opening a championship window in Minnesota and the Wild would be wise to keep him around for as long as possible.
While those negotiations have some hurdles, the Wild still haven’t learned their lesson when it comes to getting the best deal. Wild owner Craig Leipold openly discussed the talks with Hughes during a conversation with MPR’s Angela Davis on Wednesday morning and while he expressed optimism about signing the star defenseman, he also threw one of the biggest sticking points out into the public.
“We are going to re-sign him. The question will be for how long,” Leipold said via NHL insider Frank Seravalli. “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.”
Craig Leipold’s comments further complicate Quinn Hughes’s contract negotiations with Wild
Leipold’s comments seem harmless at first glance. Hughes has been long-rumored to seek a three-year extension to sync up with his brother Jack's contract with the New Jersey Devils. But the Wild probably want to hang onto him as long as possible to retain a top talent and keep their championship window open for as long as possible.
But the Wild have already experienced what can go wrong when throwing negotiation details into the public. At this time last year, Minnesota was ready to negotiate a long-term extension with Kirill Kaprizov and the previous October, Leipold announced to the world that he was willing to pay whatever price it took to make it happen.
“We plan to re-sign him,” Leipold told NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce at the time. “I will tell you nobody will offer more money than us, or longer [years]. So, all we have to do is prove to him that we want to win.”
Leipold later joked to reporters the following September, telling The Athletic’s Joe Smith that he had “Kirill’s contract in his pocket,” but was "uncharacteristically and intentionally muzzled” when speaking on the negotiations a few weeks later saying “There’s nothing to gain. Everything to lose.”
The reason for the change in Leipold’s demeanor was that Kaprizov took his comments to heart. With knowledge that there was a blank check waiting for him, Kaprizov cashed in with the largest contract in NHL history with an annual average value of $17 million.
That was likely to be the outcome when the negotiations were over and Kaprizov’s contract could look better as the salary cap continues to rise. But it also was $3 million clear of Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers ($14 million AAV) and well clear of Jack Eichel ($13.5 million AAV) and Connor McDavid ($12.5 million AAV), who signed extension after Kaprizov signed his deal.
The Wild is already feeling the squeeze of that development this offseason. With $9.4 million in projected cap space per Puckpedia, Minnesota needs to find a top line center. But they also need to fill holes in their top six forwards, especially if Mats Zuccarello’s asking price to return is outside their budget. Adding depth is also a priority and Minnesota may be crossing their fingers and hope they can find another Marcus Johansson, who scored 15 goals and recorded 49 points on a minimum salary last season.
When it comes to Leipold’s comments on Hughes, it’s hard to say what repercussions could follow. It could just be the two sides meet in the middle and agree to a short-term deal worth more money. But it also could persuade Pat Brisson, who is one of the most powerful agents in hockey, to play hardball not only with Hughes but his other clients including Wild trade targets Dylan Larkin and Vincent Trocheck.
Leipold’s confidence that he’ll sign Hughes is a good thing. But if he continues to publicly leak details about contract negotiations, it could make things more difficult and eventually land the Wild in hot water.
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