The Minnesota Wild should be given plenty of support for going out and landing a superstar to strengthen their team in Quinn Hughes. Minnesota is the State of Hockey, but it isn't always the most attractive destination for free agents. Through trade is the best way to improve their team, and having Hughes for the next season and a half gives them a great chance to be a Stanley Cup contender. However, the next obstacle will be signing him to a long-term contract extension, according to Michael Russo, via The Athletic.
“We're dealing with a very unique concept with three brothers who are superstars in the NHL,” Brisson said. “So that is a conversation that started to take place as soon as Luke became an NHL player. But those are just conversations up in the air. It's not like strategically that we have that planned, because if we did that, then we'd make sure that Quinn would probably end up in Jersey — perhaps right now. So at this point, anything could happen. Who knows? They may never play together, all three of them. I can honestly say that.”
Brisson's comments leave some things open for interpretation. Jack Hughes' contract is ending after the 2029-30 season. Could Quinn take a short-term deal in anticipation of entering free agency with his brother and teaming up?
The rising salary cap also intrigues a savvy agent like Brisson. There's also a possibility that Hughes would take a short-term deal with the Wild to become a free agent again while he is still in his prime and cash in even more. That could push the union of the three brothers off to a later date.
One advantage the Wild have is that they will be the last team able to sign Quinn Hughes to an eight-year deal before the new CBA takes effect next fall. When it does, the maximum term for an agreement will be seven years. On July 1, Hughes and Brisson could decide that eight years of security means more to them than anything else, given that best-on-best hockey is back in the rotation, where the brothers could play together and then go their seperate ways to their NHL teams.
