NHL-ийн хамгаалагч Куинн Хьюз ирээдүйн гэрээний нөхцөлийн талаар ямар нэгэн дарамт мэдрэхгүй байгаагаа илэрхийллээ.
Миннесота Уайлд багийн хамгаалагч Куинн Хьюз өнгөрсөн улирлын туршид Ванкувер Кэнакс багаас ирж, улмаар плэй-оффт Колорадо Эвеланш багт хожигдсон зэрэг амаргүй цаг үеийг туулсан байна. Тэрээр одоогийн гэрээнийхээ сүүлийн жилдээ ороод байгаа бөгөөд 7-р сарын 1-нээс хойш гэрээгээ сунгах эрхтэй болсон юм. Хэдийгээр лигийн хүрээнд түүний ирээдүйн талаар олон таамаг дэвшигдэж байгаа ч Хьюз өөрөө энэ асуудалд яаралгүй, тайван хандаж байгаагаа илэрхийлжээ.
Хьюз өөрийн шийдвэрийг гаргахдаа ямар нэгэн шахалтад орохгүй гэдгээ онцлон, багийн удирдлага Билл Геринтэй гэрээний талаар хараахан дэлгэрэнгүй яриа өрнүүлээгүй байгааг дурдсан байна. Тэрээр Миннесота Уайлд багийн бүрэлдэхүүн, дасгалжуулагч Жон Хайнс болон багийн анд Кирилл Капризов, Брок Фэйбер нартай хамт тоглохдоо сэтгэл хангалуун байгаагаа илэрхийлээд, ирэх улиралд эрүүл мэндээ сайн байлгаж, өөрийн шилдэг тоглолтоо үзүүлэхэд төвлөрч байгаагаа мэдэгдлээ.
Бусад тоглогчдын адил ах дүүсээрээ нэг багт тоглох сонирхлын талаарх асуултад Куинн болон түүний дүү Жэк Хьюз нар одоогоор ийм төлөвлөгөөгүй байгаагаа хэлсэн юм. Брэди Ткачук Флорида Пантерс багт нэгдсэн жишээгээр бусад тоглогчид баг сольж байгаа хэдий ч Куинн Хьюз Миннесота Уайлд багийн зүгээс түүнийг солилцоогоор авсан нь баг ялалт байгуулах хүсэл эрмэлзэлтэй байгааг харуулсан гэж үзэж байна. Одоогийн байдлаар тэрээр гэрээний асуудлыг бус, харин NHL-ийн шинэ улирлын бэлтгэлдээ бүрэн анхаарлаа хандуулж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
LAS VEGAS — Just listening to Quinn Hughes describe his 2025-26 season was exhausting.
Imagine living it.
“I got traded in December, I was (in Minnesota) for six, seven days, then you go home for Christmas for four days,” Hughes said Wednesday at the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “You come back, we have the longest road trip in Wild history because of the World Juniors being at the rink. And then you go home for two weeks. And then you go to the Olympics for a month. … It was a lot.”
So it’s not difficult to understand why Hughes chose to spend his summer diving headfirst into the Atlantic Ocean with his brothers in a rented house on the Jersey Shore rather than diving headfirst into life-altering contract negotiations with Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin.
While the State of Hockey is holding its breath waiting for any indication — a post, a quote, a sign from the hockey gods — Hughes intends to stick around St. Paul, Minn., for the foreseeable future, Hughes himself is in no rush. And while the rest of the league’s fans dream up potential futures in which Hughes and his brothers engineer a team-up in New Jersey or New York or South Florida or anywhere else, the Hughes boys say they aren’t.
The hockey world is seriously stressed about Hughes’ future. Hughes, it appears, is not.
“This is going to be done whenever I feel like it needs to be done,” Hughes said. “I don’t feel backed up against the wall. I’m very thoughtful. I want to take my time on everything and make sure I’m making a decision that is going to be good for everyone. That’s kind of where my head’s been at. We haven’t had that many conversations because of how I wanted my summer to go, in terms of just being fresh and resetting and just focusing on enjoying (myself), and then training, and being around friends and family. But as we get going here, I’m sure (negotiations) will heat up. But I don’t really feel backed up against the wall where I have to sign before camp.”
Hughes, whom the Wild acquired from the Vancouver Canucks for a king’s ransom of young talent and a draft pick last season, is entering the last year of his contract. And clocks are ticking all over the place. He’s been eligible to sign an extension since July 1. Training camp opens in a week. And next Wednesday, the new collective bargaining agreement kicks in, dropping the maximum contract length from eight years to seven years. So every day that passed without an extension could be interpreted as a product of Hughes’ disinterest in making Minnesota his long-term home. Cale Makar’s record-breaking eight-year, $163.2 million contract extension with the Colorado Avalanche only upped the stakes — and the price.
But the 26-year-old defenseman sounded plenty interested in sticking around.
“I really enjoyed my time in Minnesota last year,” he said. “I’m excited to get going at camp here. Really excited. I think we’ve got a great team. I love (coach John Hynes). I love (winger Kirill Kaprizov). I love playing with Brock (Faber). I’ve always said I’ll probably play another three, four years in the league just because of how well he skates and we make it easy on each other. Those are all massive draws for me.”
And after everything he went through last season, from an acrimonious ending in Vancouver to a crushing second-round loss to the Avalanche in the Western Conference playoffs, Hughes isn’t the least bit concerned about the contract situation hanging over his head during the 2026-27 season. The way he sees it, that’s something for other people to worry about.
“Vancouver weighed heavy on me (last year) just because where we were, 31st or 32nd in the league,” he said. “That ain’t fun. I don’t see that happening in Minnesota. I think we’ve got a great team. So it’s not going to weigh over me personally. I’m excited to play hockey. I think if I can stay healthy, I’m going to have my best season. I feel great. So I don’t have it weighing over me.”
Quinn Hughes, left, and Jack Hughes actually do not spend all of their time figuring out ways to play on the same team. (Geoff Burke / Imagn Images)
Earlier in the day, Jack Hughes chuckled when asked whether the brothers spend their days quietly plotting their futures together.
“We honestly don’t,” said Jack, who plays for the Devils with his younger brother, Luke. “I think people think we’re at home all day, just talking about it. We’re not. We’re not. because we’re enjoying the summer. That’s what the summer’s for, is to get away from it and enjoy yourself and do things that you normally can’t do during the season. Obviously, we talk, but it’s not like we’re breaking it down every single day.”
That said, it’s hard not to look at Brady Tkachuk’s forcing his way out of Ottawa and onto the team of his brother, Matthew, in Florida, and wonder whether the Hugheses will someday do something similar. Guerin undoubtedly wants to lock in Hughes for eight years — or seven years, if it’s signed after the new CBA kicks in Sept. 16 — but a three-year contract would put Quinn and Jack into free agency in summer 2030.
But Quinn and Jack downplayed the idea that they’re envious of the Tkachuks now.
“No, not at all because there’s so much that goes into play, right?” Jack Hughes said. “Brady’s making $8.1 (million). I mean, that’s a much easier contract to move. Me and Luke are playing together. Matthew and Brady are now playing together. It’s much easier for two brothers to play together than three. And then on top of that, Quinn is one of the best players in the league and has a huge deal that’s going to be coming. Yeah, I’m happy for Matthew and Brady because I know how much fun they’ll have because I get to do that with Luke, and I’m excited for them.”
It’s a new age of player empowerment in the NHL, with players such as Tkachuk, the Detroit Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin and the Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck asking their way out of long-term contracts in their longtime markets, for various reasons. But Quinn Hughes said the Wild have nothing to prove to him. Guerin’s aggressiveness in acquiring Hughes in the first place — sending Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren and a first-round pick to Vancouver — showed him the Wild are in it to win it.
“What do I need to see from the team? Nothing,” Hughes said. “I’m happy with that aspect, for sure.”
Matt Boldy said he and Hughes’ Minnesota teammates have largely stayed out of the star’s business.
“It’s a personal thing,” Boldy said. “As much as I would love to have Quinn, it’s not up to me. It’s not up to what I think. Obviously, as players, we hope that deal gets done because we know how much value Quinn brings to our team and how much of a difference-maker he is. But you can’t really weigh too much into it because you got no say. Hopefully it all works out.”
Regardless, Hughes won’t feel pressured into signing. Whatever he decides to do, wherever he decides to go, whenever he decides to do it, and for however long he decides to sign for, it’ll be his call, and nobody else’s.
“It is my life,” he said. “I’m not going to do anything to make someone else happy. … Everyone’s got to do what makes them happy, and then where the chips fall, they fall.”
