Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin hasn't discussed an extension with star defenseman Quinn Hughes and his agent "in a long time," he said on News Talk 830 WCCO on Wednesday.
"To be honest with you, there's nothing really to talk about right now," Guerin added. "What am I gonna do? Go, 'Please, please, please, please?'
"This is a unique situation. I think Quinn needs to wrap his head around a couple things, and I don't think anything's changed. And I'm being honest with you. Right now, I'm focused on our team. I'm focused on our team and winning games. Quinn's situation will resolve itself at some point in time. This does not keep me awake at night. Yes, I do think about it, but it's not something that I'm gonna let affect anything else I do. He's gonna take his time with it, and that's it."
Hughes sits second in NHL scoring among defensemen with 18 points in 14 games. The 27-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
The Wild acquired Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in December for forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren, defenseman Zeev Buium, and a first-round pick.
Though Guerin said he's happy with Hughes' performance in Minnesota, he admitted he still hasn't decided how he'll handle the star rearguard if he remains a pending free agent deeper into the season.
"At some point in time, I'll have to try to figure things out and see what's best for the team," Guerin said. "But I know one thing's for sure: having Quinn on our team is what's best for the team. I don't know. I'll be completely honest with you, I don't know. I don't know what's gonna happen. I don't know what I'm gonna do. There's no date. What we're doing right now is focusing on our team and trying to win hockey games. That's really it. I think some people wanna make this more complicated than it really is, being the media. And it's not that complicated."
Quinn's younger brothers, Jack and Luke, play for the New Jersey Devils. Quinn and Jack won Olympic gold with Team USA in February.
Hughes has 503 points in 521 career games and won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman in 2024.
