>> A little birdie says if Quinn Hughes doesn’t accept a contract extension from the Wild before the regular season-opener on Oct. 1 against Nashville, it’s unlikely he’ll end up signing a new deal.

The superstar defenseman still feels strongly about getting to play with brothers Jack and Luke, who are with the New Jersey Devils. But what could be nearly as impactful for the Wild is if the team can make a trade for his pal, Detroit center Dylan Larkin, who recently had his captaincy taken away and has a no-trade clause he’d waive to be with Hughes in Minnesota.

>> A Hughes extension would probably cost the Wild at least $18 million a year. Teammate Kirill Kaprizov this season begins an eight-year deal worth $17 per annum. The Red Wings, now with Shawn Horcoff as interim GM, are seeking what insiders consider a ridiculous amount of assets in exchange for Larkin.

>> If the Wild are forced to trade Hughes, what could he bring in return?

Put it this way, one insider said: You couldn’t get Cale Makar or Zach Werenski, but you could get any other defenseman in the National Hockey League for Hughes. Makar is signed with Colorado through 2035 for $163 million, Werenski with Columbus through 2028 for $20 million.

Hall of fame coach Scotty Bowman, winner of nine Stanley Cups as a head coach and five as an executive, has said you don’t determine great players by points scored or Stanley Cups won. It’s the guys who make the other players more effective.

That’s what Hughes does.

You obviously have to have a good goaltender to win. But other than that, the single player who can make the most impact is an offensive defenseman.

>> For instance, say Hughes were traded and in return you were to get a real good scoring winger and a small playmaking center and a pretty good face-off guy, plus a draft pick. But all those three players together aren’t worth the one guy who makes everybody better.

“The way he skates and how aggressive he is,” Wild defensive partner Brock Faber said Thursday of Hughes, “he definitely elevates me to new heights.”

>> It’s not his fault, but the Wild’s top center, Joel Eriksson Ek, probably is a No. 2 center on top NHL teams.

>> Before the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team left for the 2026 Games in Italy last February, former Gopher Dave Brooks gifted USA GM Guerin and assistant coach John Hynes bronze replicas of the life-size bronze statue of his famed brother Herb that is displayed outside the Wild offices in downtown St. Paul.

Herb’s 1980 Olympians monumentally upset the Soviet Union en route to the gold medal. It was this year, on the same exact date, Feb. 24, that the Guerin-Hynes Olympians won their gold medal. When he gave Guerin and Hynes their replica statues of Herb, Dave told the pair, “Remember who you are, and bring the gold back.”

Said Brooks last week, “On the same day. This is nuts. How did that happen on the same day?”

>> Brooks last week was host to more than 90 former Gophers and NHL players at his St. Paul hideaway to welcome new Gophers coach Brett Larson, who possesses many of the same attributes of Herb Brooks. Guerin and Wild owner Craig Leipold stopped by.

>> Last week, a group of Herb Brooks’ 1980 Olympians, including Rob McClanahan, Neal Broten, Buzz Schneider, John Harrington and Dave Christian, helped the Morrie Miller Athletic Foundation banquet and golf tournament in Winona raise a record $414,000.

>> The Vikings hope to start QB Kyler Murray next week at Tampa Bay. Sunday in Chicago was the 31st game since 2021 that Murray, 29, has missed due to injuries.

>> With three Target Field games left, the Twins rank 26th among baseball’s 30 teams in attendance, averaging 21,272.

>> The next two games, at Washington and home against Michigan, will define the Gophers’ football team’s season.

>> That was hall of famer Rod Carew in uniform on the field during batting practice and in the clubhouse visiting Twins players in Anaheim, Calif., over the weekend.

>> Former Gophers athletics director Joel Maturi, 81, walks eight miles a day.

>> The Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers had scouts at the Gophers-Akron game Saturday.

>> Don’t be surprised if Stan Kroenke, who is paying $4 billion to buy the Los Angeles Angels, considers former Twins GM Derek Falvey to run the operation.

>> The University of Utah, Penn State and UCLA athletics departments are accepting investments from some form of private equity, but the Gophers, who project another $9 million deficit this year, are staying away.

>> A parking lot four blocks from the Gophers’ football stadium for the Eastern Illinois game charged $60. A lot two blocks from the Vikings’ stadium for the Packers game charged $50.

Overheard

>> Wild GM Billy Guerin, asked Wednesday if Steve Yzerman’s removal last July as Red Wings GM instantly ended trade talks for center Dylan Larkin: “Yes.”

For more Charley Walters: DontPrintThat.com