Guerin Left Out an Extremely Important Part of the Hughes Decision with Recent Comments

Bill Guerin spoke with the media this week about contract negotiations with Quinn Hughes, and while he admitted the organization doesn’t exactly know the defenseman’s priorities in negotiating his new deal, the Minnesota Wild GM left out a key part of the equation: family.

When speaking about what Hughes might be thinking as he weighs his decision, Guerin said Hughes might not be motivated by money or by trying to match a deal signed by Cale Makar. He explained:

“No — I mean yes, it does set some sort of the market, but what I’m saying is not everybody has to abide by it. If you’ve played 8 years in the NHL as an elite player, you’re going to be okay for the rest of your life before signing this contract. So now you can just put into your next decision what’s really important to you. And that can be where you’re playing, that can be length of contract, that can be the money. It can be a combination of a lot of different things. You have that luxury of doing that. So I don’t believe it’s just because one guy signed it well now this guy’s going to do that. No, he’s going to do exactly what he wants to do. And we don’t know what that is.”

What’s not in there? Guerin, intentionally or not, left out winning and family. As everyone is aware — and thanks in part to comments from former Canucks GM Jim Rutherford — Hughes wants to play with his brothers Jack and Luke. They don’t play in Minnesota; both play for the New Jersey Devils. That could be a big part of what ultimately determines how long Hughes signs for, or whether he signs at all.

Quinn might tell the Wild that he’s not willing to sign anything more than three years. He might say he’s going to test the market and give the Devils a chance to bid on his services. If that happens, it leaves the Wild and Guerin in a tricky spot. Do they keep trying to sign him? Do they trade him?

Guerin understands what this is. This is Hughes calling the shots and the Wild trying to work with him. “We can plan on what we want, but then [Quinn] has to come back and tell us what he wants. We can’t make him sign anything,” said Guerin.

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