Hughes said following this season that he was open to re-signing with Minnesota.
“I mean, I really like it here,” Hughes said May 15, two days after the Wild were eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche with a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round. “We’ll see what Billy wants to do.”
Guerin said three days later that re-signing Hughes was the top priority for the Wild this offseason.
“We loved having Quinn,” Guerin said. “He was so impactful, he’s extremely dialed in on what’s going on here. I know he liked it here, I know he likes the team. The team really embraced him.
“I love having him here, and the impact that he had on our team was incredible. These are things that take time and I think everybody needs a little bit of time to decompress, but that’s priority (No.) 1.”
Hughes had 76 points (seven goals, 69 assists) in 74 games this season, including 53 points (five goals, 48 assists) in 48 games following the trade. He was second among NHL defensemen in assists, behind Evan Bouchard of the Edmonton Oilers (74), and eighth overall.
Hughes tied forward Kirill Kaprizov for the Wild lead with 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games, finishing plus-10.
Selected by the Canucks with the No. 7 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Hughes has 485 points (66 goals, 419 assists) in 507 regular-season games for Vancouver and Minnesota, and 41 points (six goals, 35 assists) in 41 playoff games.