Quinn Hughes' rumored $18M Wild deal would reset the NHL defenseman market

Quinn Hughes' rumoured $18M per year extension would transform the NHL defence market, and set the precedent for elite two-way defenders going forward.

Elliotte Friedman, who appeared on August 7's NHL Tonight, said the recent jump to $18 million and $18.8 million at the top of the market has complicated negotiations for the NHL's next wave of elite players, including Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar:

I do think that the [top AAV] jump to 18 [million] and then 18.8, at the very least it's probably thrown a little bit of a challenge in there for all these teams to narrow down these numbers.

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Names mentioned by Friedman included Cale Makar, Adam Fantilli, Cutter Gauthier, and Quinn Hughes - who may be the first to sign.

Quinn Hughes' reported $18-million extension will reset the NHL defence market

Reports from Michael Russo of The Athletic state that the Minnesota Wild and Hughes are still working on an extension though with a new twist:

If he wants to play with his brother obviously the smartest thing to do is to not sign with the Wild but the reason we all expect him to sign...is I think he realized the amount of assets the Wild gave up for him and I think there's a feeling from his side that he deserves to pay that back at least give them terms on the next contract.

If that's true, a deal in that range would immediately place Hughes at the top of the defenseman market and force future negotiations for players such as Makar to start from a much higher baseline.

Hughes, 26, put up another outstanding season with both the Canucks and Wild. Prior to being traded, he had 23 points in 26 games for Vancouver, then added 53 points in 48 games with the Wild including 48 assists. He currently makes $7.85M, so if he's getting that aforementioned amount, it'll over double what he earns right now.

But that also sets a precedent for those players like Makar, who is also one of the NHL's elite offensive defencemen, and it'll be interesting to see who signs first and sets the benchmark going forward.

The Wild may have more reason to accept $18-million for Hughes beyond just a star defenceman

But if they were to let Hughes walk in free agency, that would be a rough bit of business from Bill Guerin. He gave up a king's ransom for Hughes with a package that included Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren and Marco Rossi.

Minnesota is not negotiating with Hughes from a neutral position. Guerin already surrendered three premium young players and a first-round pick to acquire him, so the Wild have far more incentive than most teams to avoid letting the asset walk without a long-term return.

The addition of Hughes was a gamble where Guerin and the Wild pushed all their chips in the middle hoping for a long postseason run. They got past the Dallas Stars in round one, but ran into the Avalanche's buzzsaw in round two - losing in five games.

The Wild's leverage problem is straightforward: they paid a blockbuster acquisition cost for Hughes, while Hughes retains the ability to control how much term he is willing to give back. That could push Minnesota toward accepting a higher AAV or shorter extension than it otherwise would for a defenceman.

If Hughes signs first at or above $18 million, Minnesota will not just secure its franchise defenceman. It will also establish the number every other elite blue-liner, most notably Cale Makar, has to negotiate against.

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