When Kirill Kaprizov inked his contract extension for $17 million annually, it looked like someone would soon take his crown as the NHL’s highest-paid player away. That Kaprizov was merely the first through the door of a new era of big-money contracts.
It quickly turned out not to be the case. Connor McDavid, the consensus-best player in the world, re-upped with the Edmonton Oilers for $12.5 million on a short-term deal. A raise of exactly zero dollars, and a pay cut with salary cap inflation. Mega-contract candidates like Jack Eichel and Kyle Connor “only” secured cap hits of $13.5 and $12 million, respectively.
The market will almost definitely catch up to where Kaprizov is at. Unfortunately for the Minnesota Wild’s salary structure, Quinn Hughes is probably the next player in line for a mega-raise.
As everyone knows, the Wild swung the all-in trade for Hughes in December, without the assurance that Hughes would re-sign in the State of Hockey. So far, there are no complaints. Hughes has played like an MVP. His 29 points in 24 games represents higher production than anyone on the Wild… including Kaprizov. Bill Guerin realized what other GMs didn’t: you get the talent first, then worry about the rest later.
But oh lawd, the rest comin’. Let’s assume Hughes will sign once he’s eligible on July 1. How much do the Wild pay this guy? Because right now, Hughes isn’t just in a position to become the league’s highest-paid defenseman. He’s in a spot where he can shatter the market in the exact same way Kaprizov just did.
Back in 2018 and 2019, it looked like Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson paved the way for the defense market to explode. Doughty, coming off his fourth season as a Norris Trophy finalist, inked a contract that paid him $11 million annually, $2 million more than P.K. Subban, who set the market for defensemen beforehand. Then Karlsson, a two-time Norris winner set to hit free agency at the age of 29, signed an eight-year extension with the San Jose Sharks at a cap hit of $11.5 million.
At the start of 2026, the two highest-paid defensemen are… Karlsson and Doughty. Rasmus Dahlin has matched Doughty’s AAV, while Evan Bouchard ($10.5 million AAV) is only a notch behind. But no team has pushed past that $11.5 million ceiling that Karlsson set. Not Cale Makar, Hughes, Zach Werenski, Adam Fox, Charlie McAvoy, or any of the game’s elite blueliners.
Until, potentially, July 1. Hughes isn’t alone in being able to shatter the Karlsson barrier. Makar will also be eligible for an extension, and he’s just as worthy of commanding a currently insane amount of money with the Colorado Avalanche. Even so, Hughes feels uniquely positioned to come out of this offseason as the highest-paid defenseman, if he chooses.
The biggest thing is, obviously, a great problem to have: Hughes has been shown to be worth almost any price a team could pay. Entering Sunday, Hughes sits third in the NHL with 5.9 Standings Points Above Replacement, per Evolving-Hockey. That’s behind only McDavid (6.5 SPAR) and Macklin Celebrini (6.0 SPAR), two legitimate MVP candidates.
Hughes’ 24 games with the Wild have, by themselves, been worth a whopping 4.6 points in the standings. Just counting his time in Minnesota, Hughes is a top-10 defenseman and top-20 player this season. Heck, it exceeds the 4.0 SPAR Kaprizov put up in 41 games last year, when he was a runaway Hart Trophy favorite before getting hurt.
So if Hughes’ agent goes to Guerin after the season and asks for $17 million and one dollar, or $17.5 million, or heck, $18 million, how can the Wild say no?
That’s an issue for Minnesota in a way it might not be to Colorado. Teams love pointing to their highest-paid player and saying, No one makes more than X. In the Avalanche’s case, that’s Nathan MacKinnon, the Hart Trophy winner who makes $12.6 million against the cap.
The Avs have already held the line on that once, trading Mikko Rantanen last year. Makar is more valuable than Rantanen, which potentially changes the equation. But, looking around the league, $12.6 million would still be more than any defenseman, and we’ve seen other mega-stars play ball.
The Wild showed their hand regarding what they think an elite player is worth, and it’s well north of $12.6 million. And Minnesota isn’t going to be less desperate to get a deal done with Hughes than with Kaprizov.
Guerin traded four premium assets to land Hughes, including a consensus top-10 prospect in Zeev Buium. The Wild are trying to keep up with the Avalanche and Dallas Stars in the Central Division arms race, and that becomes much harder, if not impossible, if the Wild are forced to trade Hughes or let him walk.
The good news is two-fold:
For one, it’s going to be hard to pay Hughes to the point where he’s a negative value. His next contract would start at age-28, meaning the first four or five years should be ones Minnesota can reasonably expect Norris-caliber hockey.
The other thing is, Hughes knows what a bad situation is from his time in Vancouver, and that might lead him to prioritize staying in a good spot rather than squeezing every cent he can.
Regardless of what Hughes’ exact priorities are, though, Wild fans need to brace themselves for a second-straight offseason of sticker shock. The stars have aligned for Minnesota to sign record-breaking contract extensions in consecutive offseasons. Until the market catches up, the Wild may have to be on an island, finding a way to build around those unique mega-contracts.
