It's time for a bit of a mea culpa.
A few weeks ago, I reported that the Vancouver Canucks wouldn't be able to re-sign Quinn Hughes to an eight-year contract. That was based on a report from Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff about the new memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the NHL and the players' union, the NHLPA, which has a provision reducing the maximum length of contracts.
Under the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the maximum length of a contract is eight years for an extension with their current team or seven years with a new team in free agency. The MOU would reduce this to seven years for an extension with a player's current team and six years for a new team in free agency.
I had confirmed with other sources that Seravalli was correct that this provision was going to be in the MOU. What Seravalli might have gotten wrong, and by extension, I got wrong, was when this change will come into effect.
Seravalli reported that the change will take place before the end of the current CBA.
"The 2025-26 season (next week’s free agency) will mark the final eight-year deals in the NHL," said Seravalli.
Quinn Hughes has two years remaining on his contract, so is not eligible to sign a contract extension until July 1, 2026. Ergo, Hughes's new contract, which would start in the 2027-28 season, would fall under the new rules in the MOU, according to Seravalli's reporting.
When the MOU was officially released in all of its 167-page glory, however, it said that changes agreed to in the document will take effect on September 16, 2026.
The major advantage the new CBA could give the Canucks
As reported by Thomas Drance of The Athletic, that would mean Hughes would be eligible to sign an eight-year contract extension at any point between July 1, 2026 to September 16, 2026.
"There is a window of time next summer, where contracts will still be governed by the current rules of the road," said Drance on Halford & Brough in the Morning on Sportsnet 650. "And the current rules of the road permit players to sign for eight years with their current team."
Drance noted that the public may not actually have the full MOU — "There are redacted portions of the MOU, which are only available to people have access to certain protected areas of the NHLPA website or NHL website" — but noted that all of the agents he spoke to agreed with his interpretation. This is also how it has worked when past CBAs have come into effect.
If that's the case, the Canucks actually have a big advantage when it comes to re-signing Quinn Hughes.
The Canucks would be able to offer Hughes an eight-year contract extension next summer, whereas if he went to free agency in 2027, he would only be able to sign a six-year contract with a new team as an unrestricted free agent.
That would represent a massive difference in actual dollars. Hughes is likely to become one of the highest-paid defencemen in the NHL, akin to the likes of Drew Doughty or Rasmus Dahlin, who have $11 million cap hits on their current contracts. Based on the percentage of the cap of those contracts when they were signed and the rising salary cap in the next couple of years, Hughes could re-sign for $14-15 million per year.
With the two extra years of an eight-year contract, that's a difference of $28-30 million in compensation.
In addition, the MOU limits how much contracts can be frontloaded and how much of a contract's compensation can be in signing bonuses, which are paid in a lump sum each season and are guaranteed even if a contract is bought out or there is a lockout.
The Canucks would potentially be able to frontload a contract with Hughes and offer significant signing bonuses that wouldn't be allowed under the amended CBA starting September 16, 2026, giving Hughes a lot more money in advance — a major advantage for a player with the right investment manager.
Well, not so fast...
We have two contradictory reports about whether players will be able to sign eight-year contract extensions next summer. So, which of the two is correct: Seravalli or Drance?
Well, at the moment, neither one is correct.
I reached out to Bill Daly, the deputy commissioner and chief legal officer of the NHL, regarding this issue. According to Daly, it is currently up in the air when that portion of the MOU will come into effect.
"That hasn’t been finally determined yet," said Daly. "We still are planning to sit down with the Union to discuss implementation details, and that meeting has not transpired yet."
The players who are eligible for extensions next year would probably like to be able to sign frontloaded eight-year extensions with massive signing bonuses. The owners of the teams might prefer that the MOU takes effect earlier, saving them some money.
So, the NHL and NHLPA might still have some negotiating to do when they come together to iron out how the MOU will be implemented.
The Canucks, however, might prefer if that particular change in the MOU doesn't come into effect until September 16, 2026, as it will give them a major leg up in contract negotiations with Quinn Hughes.
