It’s been just two games, but it’s safe to call it now: Quinn Hughes in a Minnesota Wild sweater is something to behold. Showing up on the scoresheet is great, and Hughes has done it in each of his first two games in St. Paul.
Beyond that, though, we see a Wild team that previously couldn’t move the puck able to glide from the defensive to offensive zone with ease. Even a team being held together with duct tape, spit, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel is blowing playoff teams out of the water.
Welcome to Quinnesota. Hughes has been one of the most potent offensive defensemen in the NHL during the regular season, almost from the jump. Over the past three seasons, he’s been in near-complete control of the ice at 5-on-5. But the Wild didn’t trade for Hughes to get through the regular season. They were well on their way to getting their usual playoff spot before last Friday.
No, they need Hughes for the playoffs. You may have heard: the Central Division is a wagon. The Wild are almost locked into a first-round date with the Dallas Stars, who spanked them in six games three years ago and have reached the Western Conference Finals in their last three seasons. The Colorado Avalanche may have won just one playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 2022, but Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and their 24-2-7 record must be respected.
To be the best, the Wild have to beat the best, early and often. That’s why they traded for Hughes.
Not surprisingly for a team going on a decade without a playoff win, there aren’t many in Wild history that you can put into the bin of “Playoff Performers.” Kirill Kaprizov and Zach Parise were able to play at a high level when the lights were brightest. Still, outside of a big series, maybe two, precious few were able to follow in their footsteps.
Playoff Points Per Game Leaders, Minnesota Wild (min. 5 GP)
- Zach Parise, 0.841
- Kirill Kaprizov, 0.840
- Marian Gaborik, 0.759
- Brian Rolston, 0.727
- Sergei Zholtok, 0.722
- Andrew Brunette, 0.722
- Ryan Hartman, 0.643
- Jason Pominville, 0.639
- Pavol Demitra, 0.636
- Matt Boldy, 0.611
Just as important as who’s on the list, we should also note who’s missing. Kevin Fiala, Mats Zuccarello, and Eric Staal — three of the top-eight point-per-game producers in Wild history — aren’t there. Nor is Mikko Koivu, Ryan Suter, Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker, Nino Niederreiter, Jared Spurgeon, or Matt Dumba. Many of the team’s best players haven’t produced when it’s mattered most.
Quinn Hughes has.
Playoff Points Per Game Leaders, Vancouver Canucks (min. 10 GP)
- Pavel Bure, 1.100
- Thomas Gradin, 1.000
- J.T. Miller, 1.000
- Russ Courtnall, 0.941
- Geoff Courtnall, 0.938
- QUINN HUGHES, 0.867
- Ivan Hlinka, 0.813
- Cliff Ronning, 0.806
- Trevor Linden, 0.805
- Stan Smyl, 0.804
For those scoring at home, Hughes’ per-game production would best anyone in Minnesota. Not any defenseman. Anyone. Perhaps even better than that is his remarkable consistency. Hughes hasn’t gotten fat off one or two incredible series, followed by no-shows. He’s been able to get on the scoresheet in every postseason series he’s taken part in.
2020 Qualifying Round vs. MIN (3-1 series win): 6 points in 4 games
2020 First Round vs. STL (4-2 win): 4 points in 6 games
2020 Second Round vs. VGK (3-4 loss): 6 points in 7 games
2024 Quarterfinal vs. NSH (4-2 win): 5 points in 6 games
2024 Semifinal vs. EDM (3-4 loss): 5 points in 7 games
His production has allowed his teams to be a factor in every series they’ve been in. Even when losing to the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers, Hughes’ Canucks pushed each team to seven games. Sure, a Game 7 loss is the same, in effect, as being eliminated in Game 6, but the Wild have only pushed a team to a winner-take-all game in just one of their last nine playoff losses (VGK, 2021).
Defensemen aren’t solely judged by point totals or whether or not their teams win games. But Hughes’ strengths in the regular season remain his strengths in the playoffs. All Three Zones tracked the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and we can see that Hughes remains a force in the transition game.
Zone Exits With Possession, Defensemen, 2024 Postseason:
- Shea Theodore, VGK: 31
- Thomas Harley, DAL: 29
- Chris Tanev, DAL: 25
- Miro Heiskanen, DAL: 25
- Drew Doughty, LAK: 23
- QUINN HUGHES, VAN: 23
- Alex Pietrangelo, VGK: 23
- Ryan Pulock, NYI: 20
- Morgan Rielly, TOR: 20
- Cale Makar, COL: 17
- Dmitry Orlov, CAR: 17
As you might have guessed, that also made Vancouver a much more deadly team when he was on the ice during that postseason than when he was off.
VAN, 2024 Playoffs, 5-on-5
With Hughes: 244 minutes; 6 Goals For, 6 Against; 59.0% xGoal Share
Without Hughes: 377 minutes; 22 Goals 4, 23 Against; 44.3% xGoal Share
That involved tilting the ice against the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan O’Reilly, and Filip Forsberg. In fact, it didn’t seem like Edmonton wanted much to do with McDavid or Draisaitl going against Hughes.
In Edmonton’s three home games, when they could best control their matchups, McDavid faced Hughes for just over 19 of his 52 5-on-5 minutes (~36.5%), while Draisaitl only saw Hughes for 14 of 46 minutes (~30.4%). Considering Hughes played 55 of the 141 5-on-5 minutes on the road in that series (39.0%), it’s safe to say that the Oilers were avoiding that matchup.
That kind of deterrent makes a huge difference in a seven-game series. Even a workhorse star forward like Kaprizov can be game-planned against and hard-matched. It’s much more difficult to accomplish that against a defenseman who plays about half the game at 5-on-5.
Again, the Wild have had very good regular-season defensemen, but none have made this much of a difference in the playoffs. Having Hughes raises the team’s ceiling in the regular season, but what’s most exciting is that he also appears to be a bona fide playoff performer.