Vancouver Canucks contract negotiations with Hughes could be impacted by new CBA
There is plenty of uncertainty surrounding Quinn Hughes’ future with the Vancouver Canucks, and the NHL’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) could have a big impact on contract negotiations.
Ever since Canucks President Jim Rutherford mentioned Hughes’ desire to reunite with his brothers Jack and Luke in New Jersey, there has been an anxiety among Vancouver fans that he may jump ship at his first opportunity.
The good news is that the Canucks captain still has two years left on his current contract, which will expire after the 2026-27 NHL season. Hughes won’t be eligible to sign another contract until next summer.
When that window opens, the Canucks will be able to offer Hughes an eight-year deal, but only for a limited time.
The Athletic’s Thomas Drance recently pointed out a few major implications that the NHL’s new CBA may have on contract negotiations with Hughes. Most notably, it will affect the maximum term that Hughes will be able to get on his next contract.
Under the league’s new CBA, which will come into effect in mid-September 2026, the maximum term that a team can sign a player to on an extension will fall to seven years. This means that Hughes could risk losing an extra year of guaranteed salary if he opts to delay an extension next summer.
Further, if he decides to test unrestricted free agency, he will be limited to signing a six-year deal with a new team under this new CBA. This could leave two years of guaranteed money on the table if he doesn’t re-sign with the Canucks in the summer of 2026.
That won’t be insignificant money, either. With the cap expected to rise to $113.5 million by the time Hughes’ contract is up, those two years could mean missing out on an additional $25 million or more if he signs a deal that carries an average annual value in the $12 to $13 million range.
Considering that he is 25 years old and at the peak of his career, this will be the contract that Hughes will want to maximize his earnings on as much as possible.
It’s a development that could benefit the Canucks in negotiations. Barring a trade, Vancouver is the only place that Hughes will be able to get an eight-year deal, giving the Canucks a bit more leverage.
We’ve already seen other members of Vancouver’s core decide to sign long-term extensions this summer in Brock Boeser and Thatcher Demko. The hope is that Hughes will join those two with a monster contract of his own next summer.