MN Wild Patiently Waiting to Unite Hughes Brothers?

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Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes - Olympics: Ice Hockey-Men Finals - Gold Medal Game
Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The USA men’s Olympic hockey team won a Gold Medal on Sunday for the first time in 46 years, going all the way back to the Miracle on Ice Games in Lake Placid, 1980.

The 2026 USA squad wasn’t built with a bunch of college kids from across the country. Minnesota Wild president of hockey operations/Team USA general manager Bill Guerin spent the past couple years building the best American roster to ever take Olympic ice together.

Much like the team in 1980, though, the 2026 Americans had to beat a rival country that went in with more talent and a proven history of winning. Also like the original Miracle team, 2026 Team USA got plenty of help from players who play their “day job” hockey in Minnesota.

This time, instead of Herb Brooks and a bunch of his Golden Gophers, the Americans relied heavily on three young Minnesota Wild superstars — Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber (also a former Gopher).

Minnesota Wild players lead Team USA to Olympic Gold

Boldy, 24, scored the first goal for USA in their Gold Medal victory over Canada on Sunday, an absolutely filthy 1v2 that put the Red, White and Blue up 1-0 early. Matt scored two goals total in the tournament, and tallied four total points.

Unsurprisingly, defenseman Quinn Hughes — who the Wild acquired back in December via blockbuster trade with the Vancouver Canucks — assisted on Boldy’s goal.

Hughes — who’s widely considered the best American-born defenseman currently on the planet — finished the 2026 Olympics in Milan with 8 points (1 goal, 7 assists) — the most on Team USA. In very Quinn Hughes fashion, his only goal of the tournament was the game winner in OT vs Sweden.

Only two teammates on Team USA put up the kind of numbers that can hold a candle to what Quinn did over the last couple weeks. His brother Jack Hughes and United States Captain Auston Matthews both finished with 7 points. Of course, it was Jack who potted the Golden Goal in overtime against Canada.

Both Hughes brothers will forever live in hockey lore, after this weekend, and they should have a bunch more opportunities for Olympic glory, before their time in professional hockey is done. Quinn is just 26 years old and Jack — who started these games on Team USA’s third line — is just 24.

Jack Hughes to Minnesota still alive…?

But what if it were possible to get Jack Hughes into a Minnesota Wild sweater? Well, the New Jersey Devils were going into the toilet before the break, and they come out with only 58 points, second-least in the Metro and 20 points behind division-leading Carolina.

On top of that, the Devils have made it known that they are looking to make “a hockey trade” that will shake up the roster and “send a message” to players in the organization. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like they are trying to rid themselves of either Jack or the youngest of the three Hughes bros, Luke (22).

Jack Hughes’s trade clause doesn’t kick in until the summer, but the Devils aren’t trading him.

Dave Litman – NHL Rumors
  • Jack Hughes 2025-26 Stats: 36 Gms | 12 goals | 24 assists | 20:37 TOI

Never say never, though, right? On Sunday morning, shortly after Team USA won their Gold Medal, former North Stars GM and local hockey legend Lou Nanne (who you know has done his recon) made an appearance on KFAN radio with Dan Barreiro.

There, he told the “Sunday Sermons” host that the Wild will get their shot at Jack Hughes, if they remain patient and strike at the right time, just like they did with Quinn. But first and foremost to landing a second Hughes brother… is extending the contract of the one they already have on roster (~01:22:00 mark).

Barreiro: “How do we get Jack Hughes on the Wild?”

Nanne: “Patience. Because I really think that there’s a possibility that can happen. And I say that because he’s I think he’s free agent in two years and then you know, let’s face it New Jersey, not a position to run for a cup right now, and so the Wild are.

The only thing that bothers me is I don’t want both [Hughes brothers] going to Detroit. You know, Quinn is going to be a free agent a year earlier, and so I don’t want one move in there, then the other moving there.

But if Quinn signs [with the Wild], which I really believe he’s going to sign with the Wild, then I think they’re gonna have a chance to get Jack Hughes.”

KFAN Radio

Related: Hughes Brothers Could Join Forces in Minnesota

While doesn’t sound like another Hughes blockbuster is on Guerin’s trade deadline agenda this season, it’s clear we can’t rule out the possibility he’s acquired down the road, even if the Wild have to wait for him to get closer to free agency in a *checks notes* FOUR seasons.

I think what Louie meant to point out with the timeline was that Jack will have three years (not two) left on his deal when Quinn’s expires after the 2026-27 NHL season. So if Minnesota can get Quinn to sign a long-term deal between now and then, and the Wild are regular Cup contenders, the eldest Hughes brother isn’t leaving.

There’s no doubt the Hughes brothers desperately want to play together. In a vacuum, that should benefit New Jersey, since they already have two of three on roster. But the Devils organization remains in a state of flux , and their short-term forecast for winning remains cloudy, at best.

Should Billy get even one sliver of an opportunity to swoop in on Jack, you know he’s going to take it. And after tasting Olympic glory in Milan, you know he isn’t going to enjoy watching his older brother (hopefully) make a playoff run with the Minnesota Wild without him.

Back to NHL reality for Guerin, Minnesota Wild

Now, after what is sure to be one of the crazier nights of their lives, all of the players from Team USA and Team Canada will fly back to their respective NHL teams to prepare for the restart of the 2025-26 regular season on February 26.

Before then, all eyes will turn to the real hero of the 2026 Olympics — Minnesota Wild president of hockey operations, Bill Guerin. After the Team USA GM took all sorts of heat for how he built and designed this Gold Medal winning roster, there’s plenty of room for him to gloat. Problem is, there’s no time.

With the NHL trade deadline right around the corner, and the NHL regular season officially resuming TONIGHT at midnight, trades can officially be executed again in just a matter of hours.

When they left for the Olympics, insiders around hockey were waiting for Guerin to make his second blockbuster of the 2025-26 season… and that certainly hasn’t changed after three weeks in Milan hanging out with half of the league’s top decisionmakers.

It may not be Jack Hughes (yet), but we know Billy has something up his sleeve. It’s just a matter of what…

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