“We had to give up a lot to get him in this past year. We are going to re-sign him,” Leipold said in an appearance on Minnesota Public Radio on Wednesday.
The Wild acquired Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in December in exchange for forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren, defenceman Zeev Buium and a 2026 first-round pick.
Hughes, 26, has one year remaining on a six-year deal he originally signed with the Canucks that pays him $7.85 million annually.
Leipold said the Wild are prioritizing term in negotiations.
“We would like to go as long as we could. He will probably want it to be a little shorter — shorter being maybe three years. We hopefully will end up at five, I don’t know, and the reason I can openly talk about this is that I’m not doing the negotiating,” he said.
Hughes appeared in 48 games for the Wild after the trade, registering five goals and 48 assists. He then helped the team reach the second round of the playoffs, putting up four goals and 11 assists across 11 post-season games before Minnesota fell to the Colorado Avalanche.
Over 507 career games, Hughes has 66 goals and 419 assists.
The Wild already have the NHL’s biggest contract on their books with star forward Kirill Kaprizov entering the first season of an eight-year, $136-million contract worth $17 million annually.