Bill Guerin won't beg Quinn Hughes to stay with Wild

That isn't a GM who thinks a deal is close. Guerin went from nothing new to report to openly shrugging at the idea of begging his best player to stay.

Spittin' Chiclets

@spittinchiclets

Billy G has said all he can to Quinn Hughes about re-signing in Minnesota.

Here's what Guerin said, per TSN: "There's nothing to talk about right now," and then, when reporters kept asking, "What am I going to do, say 'Please, please, please?'" He also said he hasn't decided on a plan yet and that at some point he'll have to figure things out. He told reporters he hasn't talked an extension with Hughes or his agent in "a long time," and called it a unique situation that Quinn needs to wrap his head around.

What makes it so weird is the timing. A couple days earlier Hughes was saying all the right things: "I'm here. I've always been. I'm excited. My two feet are planted in Minnesota." People heard that and figured a deal was coming. Then the GM gets up and basically says nobody's talking. Both can be true, but they don't sound like a negotiation that's heating up.

Minnesota has a lot riding on this. Guerin got Hughes from Vancouver in December 2025 and gave up Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium and a 2026 1st-round pick to do it. Hughes is now in the last year of the 6-year, $47.1 million deal he signed with the Canucks, and he's on track for unrestricted free agency next summer. The trade cost too much for him to walk for nothing.

Fans read the quotes the same way the rest of the internet did. One reaction going around summed it up in 1 line.

Alex Daugherty

@AlexDaugherty1

Oh so he’s like never signing in Minnesota

JP Gambatese

@jp_gambatese

A couple of Bill Guerin quotes about Quinn Hughes today, who didn’t sound all that confident: “There’s nothing to talk about right now. What am I going to do, say ‘Please, please, please?’” On the hypothetical in which QH still hasn’t made a decision after a while: “I haven't really decided, at some point in time I'll have to try to figure things out and see what’s best for the team. I know one thing’s for sure: having Quinn on our team is what’s best for the team. And, you know, I don't know. I’ll be completely honest with you, I don’t know. I don't know what’s going to happen. I don't know what I’m going to 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 want to make this more complicated than it really is — being the media. And it’s not that complicated." #NJDevils #MNWild

That's a joke, not a report, but you can see why people went there. The Hughes brothers angle is always hanging over this too. Jack and Luke both play in New Jersey, and the speculation that Quinn wants to line up a shorter deal with Jack's next free agency won't go away. Every week without a deal makes that noise louder.

The annoying part for Minnesota is how well it's going on the ice. Hughes has 18 points in 14 games and plays 27:11 a night, 2nd in the league, and the Wild are 9-3-2. This is exactly the team Guerin built the trade around. Now he's openly asking what he's supposed to do.

What to watch: March 1, the trade deadline. If Hughes hasn't signed by then, Guerin has to decide whether to keep a contender together and risk losing a Norris winner for nothing, or trade him in the middle of a good season. He says he hasn't picked yet. Hughes says his feet are planted. One of those two answers has to change before spring.