Quinn Hughes spent last week in Vancouver being told by 18,000 people that he isn’t signing with the Minnesota Wild. He pushed back on that afterwards, saying his feet were firmly planted and that he could see something happening before long.
Bill Guerin went on The Chad Hartman Show on Wednesday and was asked how the talks were going – and he got brutally honest.
“To be quite honest, I had not talked to them about this in a long time,” the general manager said of Hughes and his agent, Pat Brisson. “There’s nothing to talk about right now. What am I going to do, say ‘Please, please, please?'”
Pressed on what he would do if Hughes still hadn’t decided as the season wore on, Guerin offered no comfort whatsoever.
“I haven’t really decided. At some point in time I’ll have to try to figure things out and see what’s best for the team. I know one thing’s for sure: having Quinn on our team is what’s best for the team,” he said. “And, you know, I don’t know. I’ll be completely honest with you, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what I’m going to do. There’s no date.”
Quinn Hughes this season:
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Games | 14 |
| Goals | 3 |
| Assists | 15 |
| Points | 18 |
When does Quinn Hughes become a free agent?
Hughes is playing out the final season of the six-year, $47.1 million deal he signed in Vancouver, which takes him to unrestricted free agency on July 1, 2027. The harder deadline arrives long before that. Minnesota have until March 1 to decide whether to keep a player who might walk for nothing or trade a Norris Trophy winner while competing for a Stanley Cup.
Guerin’s tone is what has changed. Through the summer he said repeatedly that he expected an agreement to come together eventually. “I had not talked to them about this in a long time” is a different message entirely, and it lands days after Hughes suggested the opposite.
READ MORE: Broadcaster calls out Vancouver fans after Quinn Hughes’ return
Supporters have drawn the obvious conclusion, and most of them worded it identically.
“He ain’t signing,” one wrote. “Signs point to Hughes not signing in Minnesota,” said another, with a third reduced to four words: “Oh he gone gone.”
Somebody found the funny side of Guerin’s line. “Well, did he try saying please please please? He should give it a shot.”
Another has already moved on to the next stage of grief entirely. “Just trade his ass now and take the L. Don’t tell him, don’t ask where he wants to go. Just find the best package and say bye.”
Jeff O’Neill got there before all of them.
“I’m going to tell you right now, he ain’t signing,” O’Neill said.
Minnesota gave up Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium and a 2026 first-round pick to get him from Vancouver last December. Guerin won the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year award for the season in which he did it.
The Wild return to Vancouver on November 21, where the chanting is unlikely to have softened.
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