The Minnesota Wild couldn’t keep it rolling Tuesday night, falling 5-2 to the Winnipeg Jets to drop to 4-2-1 on the season. Kirill Kaprizov scored both Minnesota goals.
Quinn Hughes assisted on one of them, which means he has now recorded an assist in all seven games to open the season, the first time a defenseman has accomplished that feat in franchise history.
In total, he has 10 points (two goals, eight assists), per NHL.com, and the eldest Hughes brother is doing it without his partner-in-crime on the blue line, Brock Faber, who remains out after surgery on a fractured skull.
Quinn turned 27 years old today. And to this point, he’s still in no rush to sign an extension with the Wild. To president of hockey operations Bill Guerin’s credit, Minnesota continues to wait patiently while their entire world is in danger of toppling all around them.
But could Guerin’s patience wind up paying off in the long run? That’s the question that top NHL voice John Buccigross and big time NHL insider Frank Seravalli were vollying around Wednesday on the latest episode of the Frankly Hockey podcast.
The clip below begins with talk about how well Quinn Hughes is playing to start the 2026-27 season, despite the contract controversy hanging over his head. Then, the conversation turned to the New Jersey Devils, where the situation is not going as smooth.
Seravalli: “Is [Quinn Hughes] re-signing in Minny? Is he somehow going to link up with Jack? What’s happening to the Devils? Bit of a rough start…”
Bucci: “I think that’s why he’s waiting.”
Seravalli: “What’s going on in New Jersey? Like, maybe that’s a real possibility that we’ve kind of always made this grand assumption. ‘Well, Quinn will eventually become a free agent and just go sign in New Jersey because Jack and Luke are there.’ What if New Jersey isn’t the place either, and then all three of them go bolt to, I don’t know, pick a place. I’d say Detroit, but that doesn’t seem fathomable right now.”
Bucci: “Or Minnesota, right? And I think, and when Quinn says he’s not sure, I think that’s what he’s talking about. And obviously anybody can afford Jack Hughes at $8 million. I mean, that’s, that’s not a problem. They can all fit him in the cap. So I think Quinn realized, let’s just wait. He probably has, again, almost like a spidey sense. Not that he has to talk to Jack about this, but you look at New Jersey, like, there’s not a lot there after him. It could blossom, but, well, then they trade Nemetz, new GM.
Maybe he’ll come [to Minnesota]. And again, even if that’s a thing, if that’s really a Hughes thing where they definitely want to end up together, it’s going to happen, like the Tkachuks made it happen. If the Hughes want to make it happen, they will make it happen anywhere they want to make it happen. It’ll work.”
Frankly Hockey (above)
Seravalli: “Is [Quinn Hughes] re-signing in Minny? Is he somehow going to link up with Jack? What’s happening to the Devils? Bit of a rough start…”
Bucci: “I think that’s why he’s waiting.”
Seravalli: “What’s going on in New Jersey? Like, maybe that’s a real possibility that we’ve kind of always made this grand assumption. ‘Well, Quinn will eventually become a free agent and just go sign in New Jersey because Jack and Luke are there.’ What if New Jersey isn’t the place either, and then all three of them go bolt to, I don’t know, pick a place. I’d say Detroit, but that doesn’t seem fathomable right now.”
Bucci: “Or Minnesota, right? And I think, and when Quinn says he’s not sure, I think that’s what he’s talking about. And obviously anybody can afford Jack Hughes at $8 million. I mean, that’s, that’s not a problem. They can all fit him in the cap. So I think Quinn realized, let’s just wait. He probably has, again, almost like a spidey sense. Not that he has to talk to Jack about this, but you look at New Jersey, like, there’s not a lot there after him. It could blossom, but, well, then they trade Nemetz, new GM.
Maybe he’ll come [to Minnesota]. And again, even if that’s a thing, if that’s really a Hughes thing where they definitely want to end up together, it’s going to happen, like the Tkachuks made it happen. If the Hughes want to make it happen, they will make it happen anywhere they want to make it happen. It’ll work.”
Jack Hughes is in year five of an eight-year deal that carries an $8 million cap hit through 2029-30. As MN Wild fans well know, Quinn’s $7.85 million deal expires after this season, which puts him on track for unrestricted free agency next summer.
Jack, a lightning quick young forward with an uncapped ceiling of potential, has eight points (two goals, six assists) in six games so far this season, but the Devils are 3-3-0 and sit sixth in the Metropolitan Division. It’s early, but it’s not the kind of start that makes New Jersey look like the obvious destination for Quinn or anyone else trying to win a Stanley cup.
So far this looks like the same team as last season. They look so good on paper but it doesn’t translate on the ice. Beyond frustrating. https://t.co/RzmEcY0X8n
— Devils Fanatics (@devilsfanatics) October 13, 2026
So far this looks like the same team as last season. They look so good on paper but it doesn’t translate on the ice. Beyond frustrating. https://t.co/RzmEcY0X8n
— Devils Fanatics (@devilsfanatics) October 13, 2026
Both Serevalli and Buccigross agreed that Quinn has no reason to hurry, as long as he is okay with risking injury by playing on a nightly basis. He’s already set financially, compared to the average joe working a nine-to-five job and he’s playing on a good hockey team. Barring some sort of unlikely catastrophe, he’s going to get paid at some point.
“I mean if what’s the old Lou Lamoriello line? If you have time, use it. He has time. He doesn’t need to sign.”
“I think if you’re Minnesota, you have to play it that way. You have to wait with him. I think they’re doing that so far. They might sign him next July 2nd. Like it may take that long, but it’s worth it probably in the end if it all works out.”
“I mean if what’s the old Lou Lamoriello line? If you have time, use it. He has time. He doesn’t need to sign.”
“I think if you’re Minnesota, you have to play it that way. You have to wait with him. I think they’re doing that so far. They might sign him next July 2nd. Like it may take that long, but it’s worth it probably in the end if it all works out.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota Wild fans will continue to seat out the situation until it comes to a resolution. If it ends with two Hughes brothers in Minnesota instead of one… or zero… then it’ll be well worth the wait.
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