{"id":871248,"date":"2026-08-25T19:30:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T19:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/871248\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T19:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T19:30:27","slug":"nhl-rumour-roundup-where-do-contract-talks-stand-for-hughes-makar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/871248\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumour Roundup: Where do contract talks stand for Hughes, Makar?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This summer has been a fascinating off-season of big-money contracts, thanks to an influx of cap space (and another such wave on the horizon), an eyebrow-raising offer sheet in Anaheim, and a long list of elite extension-eligible players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That two of those players happen to be generational blue-line talents makes things all the more intriguing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with Hughes, as negotiations have stretched much further into the off-season than most people expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has surprised me a little bit about how long this has taken with Hughes,\u201d Friedman said on the podcast. \u201cI\u2019ll be concerned if it\u2019s not done at the start of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"3232 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n

Latest episode<\/a><\/p>\n

With puck drop on the 2026-27 campaign just over a month away, there\u2019s still plenty of time for the two sides to hash out Hughes\u2019 next contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there have been a lot of talks recently between Hughes and the Wild,\u201d Friedman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hughes, 26, enters the sixth and final year of the $47.1-million pact he signed with the Vancouver Canucks back in October 2021. Whatever he signs for next, his average annual value should easily more than double his current cap hit of $7.85 million. It would be surprising if it didn\u2019t. Perhaps the more interesting element here, then, is the term.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Friedman has previously said he believes Hughes prefers a shorter- to mid-range term, suggesting a three-year deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Could a Makar deal be coming before camp?<\/p>\n

Of course, Hughes isn\u2019t the only elite defenceman eligible to sign an extension \u2014 and that could be part of why things are taking a little longer than expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve kind of wondered if maybe Hughes and Makar are kind of eyeing each other about what the numbers are,\u201d said Friedman. \u201cAnd part of me has wondered if maybe they\u2019re looking to see who will go first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friedman said Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic expects Makar to be signed before the start of the season. There is precedent there \u2014 when Colorado inked Nathan MacKinnon to his eight-year extension totalling just over $100 million ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, the two sides officially signed and announced the deal at the team\u2019s golf tournament at the beginning of that year\u2019s training camp.<\/p>\n

Friedman wondered aloud whether the organization might look to do the same with Makar. It would certainly set a celebratory tone to open the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Much like the speculation surrounding Hughes, the term is also a point of intrigue for Makar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Makar turns 28 at the end of October. A five- or six-year term now could mean, as Friedman notes, \u201cit\u2019s probably his last big deal.\u201d A three-year deal, on the other hand \u2014 like the one Hughes is rumoured to be looking at \u2014 points to him still signing another big deal at age 30 or 31.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Red Wings still searching for new GM<\/p>\n

Friedman kicked off Tuesday\u2019s podcast by providing a small update on the Detroit Red Wings<\/a>\u2019 GM search \u2014 and the one name he finds most intriguing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJeff Greenberg is the name here that interests me,\u201d Friedman said.<\/p>\n

Greenberg has spent the past three years with the Detroit Tigers as the MLB club\u2019s general manager. Prior to that, he spent the 2022-23 season as an assistant general manager with the Chicago Blackhawks and was also part of the Chicago Cubs\u2019 front office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Friedman said he believes Greenberg is still in the mix for the Red Wings\u2019\u00a0top job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as he\u2019s part of the process,\u201d he explained, “he\u2019s a name I\u2019m watching, as long as he wishes to be considered.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This summer has been a fascinating off-season of big-money contracts, thanks to an influx of cap space (and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-871248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}