There is no reason to panic yet, as Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar still haven’t signed an extension
Both Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes have been eligible to sign contract extensions since July 1st. Many thought that Hughes would get his deal signed quickly, but that hasn’t been the case. While a short-term deal could be in the cards, there are questions as to why it’s taking so long. As for Makar, things have been quieter. Term for Makar will be interesting.
Elliotte Friedman was on the NHL Network and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar and Minnesota Wild’s Quinn Hughes were brought up. Both players are extension eligible. Many thought that Hughes deal would have been done by now. Friedman thinks Hughes could come in at three years and $18 million per.
** NHLRumors.com transcriptions
Friedman: “Now you mentioned the defensemen, Makar and Hughes. I also think on some level it affects those players as well. You know, I think Makar, you know, we’ve heard that the Avalanche said that we are going to get this done and we are going to make sure that we get this done.
I think one of the big questions about him is going to be term, and you know what, does Makar really want eight years? I don’t know that he’s going to want to do eight years. And so immediately, and you know obviously he can’t do eight years after September 15th.
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But you know, and I think there is some willingness of, hey, you know, we have a great team in Colorado, and we want to make sure that we continue to have a great team. So, what is the number going to be for Makar?
And I have no question that, I have no doubt that, you know, Hughes is probably looking a little bit at that, and Makar looking at Hughes, and they probably want to be in the same range.
You know, I have believed that Hughes is going to sign three times 18 in Minnesota. That is my prediction, and now people are starting to wonder, what’s going on here? And I don’t have any panic about it yet.
Like somebody had a really good line about that today, this week, Corey. They said, ‘Quinn Hughes has been too busy having fun this summer with Jack to worry about signing an extension.’ Like you can’t find them anywhere; they’re out. So I kind of got a good laugh about that. But I do think that, you know, the jump to 18 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.”
EJ Hradek: “Yeah, you know, Elliotte, I would let’s ask you. I, I’ll be honest. I am surprised that Quinn Hughes’s deal is not done yet, and I know the numbers have gone up, and that changes things. But I was under the, the, I just felt that that was one of those ones that would get done quicker.
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It’s not to say that he won’t sign, but at the end of the day, it’s not done yet, so it’s still not done. Do you think that, you know, that time has gone by, that you know these, like you said, the Hughes brothers are out, they’re talking about, the feelings. Could they change because of that? I mean, the more time that goes by, there’s obviously more room for a lot of different decisions.”
Friedman: “I’ll say this, EJ. Like you know, I, I will worry about this if it’s not done by the start of the season. If it’s not done by the start, that’s just my personal feeling. If it’s not done by the start of the season, then I’ll start to say, ‘Hey, you know what’s what’s going on here?’
You know, you know, all of us here, you know, Corey, you’ve been through negotiations as a player. EJ and Tony, you and I have all been through negotiations as broadcasters. I, I really think in a lot of cases, these things get done when there’s a sense of urgency, right? And what are your pressure points? Your pressure points are.
Like I’m with you, EJ, I thought it would have been done by now. I admit I’m surprised. But I’ve been around long enough to know, and like, I will say this, like the person said to me, he was kind of laughing about it, but he was also saying, like, if you look at social media, like they’ve been out all summer. They probably can’t get pinned down to talk about contracts.
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I just think that if we go into the season and it’s not done, that’s when I’m really going to start to say, okay, like what’s happening here?”
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