By Jim Souhan

The Quinn Hughes negotiations have become a saga. That should worry Wild fans.

While Wild GM Bill Guerin continues to express optimism about signing the star defenseman to a long-term deal, the Hughes camp has indicated that he wants to see what other moves the team makes to improve before he commits.

I always expected him to sign a three-year deal worth more than $60 million before the start of the season. That could still happen.

But as Michael Russo and Anthony LaPanta said on their most recent “The Worst Seats In The House’’ podcast at TalkNorth.com, these latest developments could be problematic.
One of Hughes’ agents recently said that Hughes wants to ensure that the Wild are building a championship-caliber team before he commits. That means Hughes isn’t impressed with the current roster. How will that play in the lockerroom?

The Wild traded for Hughes, in part, because Guerin believed Hughes would want to stay for a long time.

Now a three-year deal may be the best the Wild can do, and Hughes may want to let his current deal expire and become a free agent next summer.

If the Wild become convinced that is the case, they may have to trade him soon to recoup some of the assets they traded to get him last season.

A disclaimer: We don’t know what is real and what is a negotiating strategy. Because the Wild traded so much to get him, Hughes has massive leverage in these talks. We don’t know if he’s gunning for the best possible deal and the last possible dollar, or whether he wants out.

We also don’t know whether Guerin is truly calm and optimistic, or whether he’s subsisting entirely on a diet of Tums and Pepto.

The fact that it’s Sept. 17 and we’re still asking these questions may be a terrible indication.

This negotiation wasn’t supposed to become a saga.

-The hot rec: Russo and LaPanta do one of our most popular shows at Talknorth.com, and I’ll always be indebted to Russo for helping me launch this business. We wouldn’t have survived the early years without him.

-The hot rec: I mentioned this on our Booze & Blues segment on Chin Music, the baseball show I do with Roy Smalley and LaVelle Neal: Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel is one of my favorite relatively-affordable bourbons.

-Want to advertise with TalkNorth.com? Contact VP of business development Tami Henderson at THenderson@talknorth.com.