Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild just got a very uneasy update straight from the general manager's own mouth.
Bill Guerin visited the Minnesota State Fair on Monday and fielded questions about whether Cale Makar's record deal changes anything for Hughes.
"There's a bar with Cale Makar signing that contract in Colorado, but Quinn might be after different things," Guerin said. "Who knows what he's gonna want in the end."
That's a strange thing for a GM to say about his own franchise defenseman with a new deal supposedly in progress.
Guerin insists the relationship remains solid.
"The relationship is good between me and Quinn and his agent," he said. "There's no tension. Communication has been good."
He also added that Hughes and his camp are "figuring out what they want to do in their career and their life," calling it "pretty heavy" when pressed further.
Hughes is entering the final year of his six-year, $47,100,000 deal, and at 26, he's a year younger than Makar and mentioned in the same breath as Zach Werenski for best defenseman alive.
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Why Guerin's own words should worry Wild fans
Since arriving in Minnesota via trade, Hughes has posted 53 points in 48 regular-season games and 15 points in 11 playoff appearances.
Guerin flatly refused to engage with hypotheticals.
"Business is business," he said. "I can't say what I would or wouldn't do."
That kind of guarded language, paired with Makar's new $20,400,000 benchmark, is exactly what fuels speculation Hughes could eventually prefer joining brothers Jack and Luke in New Jersey.
Hughes can test free agency next July if nothing gets done before then, giving Minnesota a real decision point well before that deadline arrives.
Is Guerin hiding something, or just being honest that he doesn't control what Hughes ultimately wants? Both readings are possible here.
Either way, "who knows what he's gonna want" isn't the kind of quote that settles anybody's nerves in Minnesota right now.
Does Bill Guerin's comments signal Quinn Hughes won't re-sign with the Wild?
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