The NHL.com Fantasy team continues to cover the latest league trends and storylines through the lens of NHL EDGE Puck and player tracking statistics. Today we look at the Minnesota Wild’s prospects after acquiring elite defenseman Quinn Hughes.
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Minnesota Wild acquired Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, and the defenseman’s elite advanced metrics can make him a true Stanley Cup contender.
The 26-year-old, who can become an unrestricted free agent after next season (2026-27), could give the Wild one of the NHL’s top five skating duos with forward Kirill Kaprizov. Hughes is expected to make his Minnesota debut against the Boston Bruins on Sunday (6 p.m. ET; FDSNWI, FDSNNO, NESN, SNP, SNO, SNE).
Hughes, who was the seventh overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, won the Norris Trophy in 2024 with a career-high 92 points (17 goals, 75 assists) and, in just his seventh full NHL season, was already the Canucks’ all-time defenseman. leader in points (432 in 459 games) and assists (371).
Since Hughes’ first full season in 2019-20, he ranked second among defensemen in points (429 in 454 games) behind Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche (465 points in 426 games) before the trade. And, since Hughes’ NHL debut on March 28, 2019, he has led defensemen in assists and power play points (190) before the trade. Among active NHL defensemen, Hughes ranked second in points per game (0.94) behind Makar (1.09) before the trade.
Hughes, who was tied with Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars for first among defensemen in power-play points (12) and tied for 11th in points (23 in 26 games) this season before the trade, had three seasons of 30-plus power-play points, including a career-high 38 in 2023-24.
