ELECTRIC: Quinn Hughes Leads Minnesota Wild to DOMINANCE, Brock Faber Pairing Shows Immediate Spark!

ELECTRIC: Quinn Hughes Leads Minnesota Wild to DOMINANCE, Brock Faber Pairing Shows Immediate Spark!

Quinn Hughes dazzled in his Minnesota Wild debut, but his chemistry with Brock Faber will be what really steals the show. On today’s episode of Lockown Wild, we dive into the new Top D pairing for the Minnesota Wild. Hey, this is Matt Faldi and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. Hey, this is Marcus Fino and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. You’re Locked On, your daily podcast on the Minnesota Wild, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello, I’m Seth Toppal. Thank you for listening to Locked on Wild, part of the Locked On Network. Now, the number one sports podcast network. Locked on Wild is your daily Minnesota Wild podcast. We are your team each and every day, and we thank you for making Lockown Wild your first listen each and every day. Today’s episode of Locked on Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. On today’s episode of Lockdown Wild, we go full into the season debut for Quinn Hughes with the Minnesota Wild. We’ll talk about the areas where his impact will be felt the most. We’ll take a look at his chemistry with Brock Faber and why the new top D pairing for the Minnesota Wild is going to be one that will be one of the best amongst the entire Central division. My name is Seth Toppel, host of Lockown Wild, credentialed media member, and I’ve been host of the show for the last five seasons. And uh boy, they uh the atmosphere at Grand Casino Arena for a 6-2 win for the Minnesota Wild over the Boston Bruins. I haven’t heard Grand Casino Arena, formerly XL Energy Center. I haven’t heard it that loud since 2023 in game three of the playoff series against the Dallas Stars. When the Wilds beat Dallas at home 5 to one, they were screaming Ryan Sudter’s name. every time he held the puck. I have not heard the arena that loud since. And obviously there was plenty of reason to be loud with Quinn Hughes making his Minnesota Wild debut. And boy, what a debut it was. The Wilds handled the Boston Bruins. They uh led five to nothing and then six to one before a goal within the uh the last second of play uh got the Bruins on the board with two. Uh power play looked uh very good. Now I know the two goals were scored by the second unit, but we’ll talk more about that uh in a little bit. The power play back on track. Uh Quinn Hughes was every bit as advertised. Even before we dive into any numbers, he skates and handles the puck similar to the way Carell Capri off did when he first started his career. Just just electric speed and makes it a common occurrence to leave other players in his wake in the dust. Uh the goal that he scored was uh was a thing of beauty. stepping in as the trailer on the play on defense and just stepping straight up uh and letting one fly that gets past Jeremy Swayman. But later in the game, the backhand move that he tried after skating past two Bruins players uh and frankly breaking ankles on both um that was even more impressive even though it didn’t lead to a goal. He is just he’s dynamic in how he skates. He’s dynamic in how he handles the puck. He’s dynamic in his playmaking ability. And he is I I once we see him get accustomed to the uh the Minnesota Wild systems that they utilize uh is I think when we’re really going to see this take off. But you can tell the rest of the team really has gotten the message and has started to up their play as well. This is the these last couple of games have been some of the best that we’ve seen from Carell Capri off. He was electric again. Um Matt Baldy continues what has been just an awesome start to the season for him. But how about Brock Faber? Just an unbelievable game. the pass that he had to set up Ryan Hartman for the second power play goal was uh was just great work. He uh he ended up with a couple of assists on the night and um just there were so many performances that um just looked like a team that really understood the the moment that they have and where this team is hopefully going to go. And that’s without even factoring in more moves to potentially be made. Uh so this it just feels like this team has really gotten a nice jolt even with players out of the lineup, even with um guys that are are playing maybe a little out of position. Just felt like the team got reinvigorated by uh adding a player of Quinn Hughes caliber. Now, some of the areas that Hugh’s impact, I think, will be seen tremendously. Obviously, we know he um he is brought in or was brought in to help on the power play. He also was brought in to up the uh scoring from the blue line, which was one of the least productive units as far as points go uh in the entire NHL. We know the defense has done a good job at limiting opposing opportunities, but before the Quinn Hughes edition, the Wilds had uh one of the lowest amount of point production from their decor of any team in the league. So, he’s going to help out there. But I think we saw on the Hughes goal, I think we saw just the type of player that he is uh and why he’s going to be such a a big fit for this Minnesota Wild team. He slides in on the back end of the play and is looking to make a play as opposed to just staying back as a defenseman. He goes on the kill immediately. slides up to the net and has a great shot. Lets it fly and he’s able to sneak it past Jeremy Swayman. Not a knock on the playing styles of of the other defenseman the Minnesota Wild have uh in particular Jonas Broaddin, Jared Spurgeon to an extent, too, but their their style tends to be more kind of stay at home and uh and and keep an eye on things from the blue line. But with Quinn Hughes, he if there is a play to be made, he is ready to make that play. And um just I I was seeing seeing that in person uh seeing that you know from just the highlights and from what he was able to do uh it it just makes it more impressive even then we knew the reputation that he had as a player from just you know the the times that the Wild had gone up against the Canucks in the past. And it’s one thing to kind of hear it from another team, but once you see that up close and you see what he’s able to do, um it it just blows it completely out of the water. Uh all told for Hughes, he ended up playing 26 minutes, just under 27, 265 in total. Uh he had the uh the goal on three shots. He led the Minnesota Wild defenseman in power play time at 3 minutes 21 seconds. Uh didn’t plan on the penalty kill, at least at this point. I I would imagine um the Wilds kind of want him to get acclimated first on the uh the power play, but maybe it’s a situation where they they feel like they have enough riches on the penalty kill that they don’t need to necessarily use him there, at least right now. So he he played a ton of minutes and he just I think you see a guy who has that similar level of playmaking that really separates Carell Capri off and Matt Baldy uh amongst other Minnesota Wild players. you’re looking five steps ahead to try to make a play, to try to push for offense. And with this team having had more of a defensive forte, that’s going to immediately make a big difference for this Minnesota Wild team. Uh there are no shortage of ways that Quinn Hughes is going to have his impact felt by this Minnesota Wild roster. A lot of them on offense, but as we said in the reaction episode when he was first acquired, he’s no slouch defensively. He can more than hold his own on defense. And that’s why I think, as we’ll talk about later in the episode, that’s why I think him and Brock Faber as a D pairing is going to be a problem. Uh, so we’ll talk about all that. When we come back, we’re going to take a look at the key areas in addition to the power play and the five on five scoring that Quinn Hughes is going to make his mark most known. That’s coming up as we continue today’s episode of Locks on Wild right after this. Today’s episode of Locked on Wild is brought to you by Indeed. You just realized your business needed to hire somebody yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Well, that’s easy. Just use Indeed. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job post seen on other sites. Indeed’s sponsored jobs put your post at the top of the page and help you reach the right candidates faster. Indeed, when I was uh looking for jobs a couple of summers ago, those sponsored job posts, that’s that’s the first place that your eyes go as a prospective employee. So from the other side of the coin, I can tell you full well that those sponsored job posts are exactly the perfect way to get candidates to see your openings. One of the other features that I love about Indeed is the ability to add different skills to your resume, to your profile. It’s almost like Indeed is throwing a string to you and having you giving you the opportunity to tie it together to what the company is looking for. It just helps increase your potential matches. Now you can speed up the hiring process with a $75 sponsored job credit. Just go to indeed.com/lockdown right now and support our show by seeing you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. hiring indeed is all you need. Welcome back to today’s edition of Lockdown Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. Uh welcome in to all of our new listeners, our new subscribers. I know many Canucks fans that are huge fans of Quinn Hughes that have said that they’ll be keeping an eye on things uh with him here. Glad to have you along. Uh we are very excited to uh to have Quinn Hughes here and hoping for much of the same that we saw in his debut uh to extend to the uh the rest of the season as he gets more acclimated. He himself in uh in his postgame media availability said it may take a little bit, couple of games to uh to get himself, you know, comfortable with his new teammates, but uh all smiles for Quinn Hughes after his first game with the Minnesota Wild. And um biggest biggest weekend as far as listens go in lockdown wild history. So uh appreciate everybody. I know it was crazy on Friday night trying to uh to get content out to uh to give you something to uh to listen to to react to the trade. But um uh numbers just just insane uh which was great to see. And uh I’m I’m excited for now the Quinn Hughes era uh as we continue to uh to be able to uh to be able to react to it and to dive into it fully like we are about to do right now. So there are a few areas in addition to uh what we talked about on the surface, you know, the the power play and the uh five on five scoring from a defensive perspective. Those are two areas that are is where Quinn Hughes’s offensive abilities, his playmaking abilities, those are two areas where that is going to really be felt. But there are a couple of others in which I think Quinn Hughes is going to really be a a a pivotal piece for this Minnesota Wild team uh going forward. uh Mike Kelly who is uh part of the uh FanDuel Sports Network broadcast crew and brings kind of a a a more deep dive into analytics. Um I think gives kind of the perfect compliment to some of the areas that uh that Quinn Hughes can help. Zone entries being uh being one. I I know that is something that has been a struggle for this Minnesota Wild team. um they they outside of say Marcus Johansson and Carl Capri off they don’t really have anybody who can blaze into the zone and um and get the offense started. Well, it turns out that that’s one of Quinn Hughes specialties. Uh he at both entries and quick exits from the defensive zone. Uh Quinn Hughes amongst NFL defenseman ranks first per game in defensive uh in zone entries and zone exits per game. First amongst all defensemen and that is an area that uh according to Mike Kelly the Minnesota Wild’s zone exit success rate is 11th in the league. So that’s not too bad, but their zone entry success rate is 27th in the league. And outside of the aforementioned Marcus Johansson and Carell Capri off, you don’t really you don’t really have a ton of guys that can get you in successfully to get the uh offensive zone time started. And that’s Quinn Hugh’s bread and butter. So that’s I think that’s one like behind the curtain a little bit. I think that’s one big area where he is going to really be able to assist, pun intended. And another area in which I think Hughes is going to help tremendously is turnover rate. You know, we we’ve talked at points throughout this season about the amount of turnovers that’s happened for this Minnesota Wild team, particularly in the neutral zone, but even in the defensive zone as well. And I think a lot of that stems from guys just trying to do a little too much, maybe being in positions where they’re trying to do a little more than they’re comfortable with. Quinn Hughes has the second best turnover rate amongst all NHL defenseman and he handles the puck a ton. He handles the puck a lot and did for the Vancouver Conucks and I would expect that he will be one of the leaders in that category even with Carill Capri off on the ice. So, as responsible as he is with the puck, you are going to cut down on those turnovers by having him be one of the uh primary puck handlers for this Minnesota Wild team. So, that those are just a couple of, you know, deeper dive areas that I think he’ll help. The other one that I heard in the broadcast uh that is going to be a big piece here is stretch passes. The Minnesota Wilds are near the top of the NHL as far as stretch passes attempted go. And what I mean by a stretch pass is those quick passes through the neutral zone to the top of the offensive zone when you’re trying to exit on defense. You know, it’s think of it in the NFL like you’re attempting, you know, a 30 20 or a 30-yard pass. Instead of trying to methodically move through the neutral zone, you’re trying to flip the play, you’re trying to potentially take advantage of a line change or somebody blowing a tire behind the play or a team just being too slow to flip and go back on defense. And Quinn Hughes is one of the best at stretch passes. So I think his ability to read the play as the, you know, as the puck handler on the back end of the play to read the play to find somebody up the ice and have the ability to pass the puck in that direction. I think those are all major areas that he is going to be able to help beyond just your standard five on five scoring and um you know power play assistance as well. We have been concerned about zone entries for years and you know he he’ll help with that. Now, he I will mention as well, he was brought in primarily for the first two, but the fact that he excels at these other little things is just icing on the cake as far as the Quinn Hughes experience goes. And uh we saw a little bit of it. Um we saw a little bit of those areas. We mainly just saw what Quinn Hughes who he is and what he does. But as far as the impact that he can have on the team, it’s going to go up from here substantially as he gets comfortable, which I think just tells you how how much the Minnesota Wild were just in in need of another superstar on the roster. And I have been pining for that for a while. I always just figured it’d be a forward. Doesn’t have to be a forward. It can be a defenseman. And Quinn Hughes is is best of the best. and now he’s wearing the green and the red. So, those are a few areas that I think he’ll be able to have a major impact in addition to five on five scoring in general. Um, by the way, Minnesota Wild are now plus 12 in the goals department uh after being in the plus single digits for most of the season. So, the offense is starting to the offense is starting to take off. and they just scored six goals against the Boston Bruins team that had won four in a row heading uh to Grand Casino Arena. So I I think the most exciting part though is what we can now probably look at as the top D pairing for the Minnesota Wild. And I’m of course talking about Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes. So, we’ll talk about the Faber Hughes connection as we finish today’s episode of Locked on Wild after this. Today’s episode of Locked on Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. NFL Sundays move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game. You are reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds, every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. And there were certainly plenty of highlight moments at the game against the Bruins. The Wild win by a score of 6-2. Uh for the everydayers that have listened for the uh the last few weeks, you know, my preference is anytime goal scorers for FanDuel, it’s just the easiest way to get the night started with the bet and to track it all the way through to the end. Whether you went Carroll Capri off, whether you went Matt Baldy, whether you went Quinn Hughes, you had a great time and so did the Minnesota Wild as they uh pick up the win. Now against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. I’m sticking to it. Alex Ovetkin coming to town. Carroll Capri off anytime goal. Book it. Absolute guarantee for uh a potential to get your FanDuel experience started on the right foot. So, if you want to be in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. Final segment of today’s episode of Lockown Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. Make sure to like and subscribe if you have not already and tell your friends if they’re looking for Minnesota Wild content on the daily. Lockdown Wild has you covered. A reminder that we will have our next live show coming up at 8:00 p.m. on Monday night. Denny ready to rock. Uh we’ve got obviously a lot to discuss over the uh the weekend. So, uh, be on the lookout Monday night at 8:00 p.m. on YouTube as we, uh, break down one of the biggest weekends in Minnesota Wild franchise history. And that’s not even exaggeration. That, that is just pure facts. One of the biggest weekends in Minnesota Wild franchise history. So, we saw Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber get uh their first look together as a uh D pairing. And I want to just I want to just give you a little bit of an idea as to how immediate the impact was for the Wild. Now, they played 18 minutes together. So, let’s courtesy of uh moneypuck.com, let’s just uh take a look at what they were able to do uh for the early part of the uh the season. Um, Faber and Hughes were on the ice for three goals, four and um just immediate immediate impact offensively. They were not responsible for any goals against in the 18 minutes that they played together. And uh like I said, for as as good as Quinn Hughes is offensively, he’s elite offensively, he is he is more than capable of uh of playing solid defense as well. Uh Faber and Hughes played 18 minutes together. They were they had an expected goals of 1.21 21 and on ice expected goals against of um 758. So a sizable difference as far as the uh as far as the goals go and they had an expected goals percentage of 61.5% which was the highest among any Minnesota Wild uh deep pairings on the day. But looking at what the rest of the pairings will be when Jonas Broaddin comes back and it sounds like Broaddin is going to be daytoday. There’s not huge concern about uh his absence being extended. Um you’ve got Jared Spurgeon, you got Jonas Broaddin, you have Jake Middleton coming back at some point. you have a lot of options with how you can attack opposing teams. And I just I think of the the hockey IQ that Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber will have together. And having Brock Faber be able to be kind of the the stay back defenseman. He can certainly contribute offensively, too. But it it frees Quinn Hughes up to just be in full attack mode every time he’s out there on the ice. And this doesn’t matter if it’s Hughes and Faber, if it is, you know, Hughes and say Spurgeon, depending on how the Wild choose to play this. They I think you would feel comfortable with either of those. But I think this gives us an exciting look at what could potentially be the future number one deep hearing for this Minnesota Wild team. Uh in Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber, two extremely talented young defenseman. Quinn Hughes, you know, just getting into the prime of his career. I mean, you say Kale Mar and as far as offensively gifted just elite elite defenseman go, Mero Heiskinan’s probably the other one, but it’s I think it’s those three and then there is a sizable gap and th those are the three most talented defenseman in the entirety of the NHL. Now, you could say Lane Hudson is uh is another, and I wouldn’t fault you for saying that, but I think those three are head and shoulders above the uh the rest of the pack. Uh we’re going to talk more about this with Alex for tomorrow’s episode. I just I wanted to get something out tonight because I know, you know, the Vikings played and uh and won their Sunday night football matchup, so people are kind of amped up and excited. You can listen to this Sunday night or listen to it first thing in the morning. Uh but I just I think of the the playmaking ability, the skating ability, the defensive instincts that Brock Faber brings, the offensive instincts that Quinn Hughes brings, it just feels like a perfect pairing for this Minnesota Wild team to have this year. And based on Quinn Hughes comments after the game, and I know a lot of this is just trying not to put anything out there as far as bulletin board material goes on the first day that you’re with the team, but Quinn Hughes saying that he is absolutely open-minded to staying beyond his current contract in Minnesota because of the lengths that the Wild went to acquire for him and saying that that really meant a lot to him that the Wild were the ones that got it to the finish line as opposed to the other teams, you know, especially in the Eastern Conference that Vancouver was negotiating with. He said that it meant a lot that Bill Garren was the one who kind of put his money where his mouth was and uh and got the deal done and that the Wild were as aggressive as they were in trying to get him and trying to bring him in to be part of the group. Uh that made an impression on Quinn Hughes. So there obviously is a lot that still would need to happen potentially for that to be in the conversation. But the fact even that he just right off the bat is like, “Yeah, this, you know, it’s exciting to be in a spot where a team wants you, a team goes to great lengths to get you.” That’s the kind of thing that sticks with a guy. So, the season debut for Quinn Hughes for the Minnesota Wilds, a resounding success, and that’s without him getting really acclimated. Just think of how this is going to continue to grow and bloom. And I think I think his impact will be transformative at on all levels for this Minnesota Wild offense. So the buzz was back at Grand Casino Arena. Uh I think pretty much every show that covers the Minnesota Wild has gotten a little bit of an energy boost from his his acquisition and his immediate impact. It’s an exciting time to be a fan of the Minnesota Wild uh these days. And so uh just just take a step back and take it all in that Quinn Hughes is now on the Minnesota Wild. And the Wild responded with a season high in goals with six. They won by four. They just they looked they looked like they had new life uh in their uh in their collective soul and I hope that continues for the uh entire rest of the season. Uh thank you for tuning in to today’s episode of Locked Down Wild. Uh coming up for you tomorrow, we will have Alex Mleti on the show. We’ll recap the big win against the Boston Bruins. We’re going to focus on what comes next for this Minnesota Wild team. Is there room to make another move? What are the assets that are available? Who should be targeted? Now that the big trade has happened, we’ll set our sights on what comes next. So, make sure to uh tune in to that. Coming up for you first thing in the morning right here on Locked on Wild. Did Locked on Wild make your Spotify wrapped? Prove it on social media to secure a free month of our brand new Everydayer Club. Just tag our National Locked On Podcast Network account on any social platform and we’ll drop you a code. Be one of the first to join the Everydayer Club to get your favorite show ad free and exclusive access to the membersonly Discord channel. For those of you on video, we’ll send you to the first ever 247 National Lockdown Podcast Network YouTube channel. on audio. Make sure you make your second listen NHL game night on Locked on NHL. We’ll catch you for the next episode right here on Lockdown Wild, your team every day.

Minnesota Wild surge past Boston Bruins with Quinn Hughes dazzling on debut—will his new partnership with Brock Faber change the Central Division power dynamic?

Seth Toupal breaks down the electric atmosphere at Grand Casino Arena and how Quinn Hughes’ playmaking, skating, and scoring ability immediately elevated Minnesota’s top D-pairing. Key insights include Brock Faber’s outstanding assists, the revitalized power play, and the transformative impact of Hughes on zone entries and turnover rates. The discussion covers Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov’s ongoing brilliance, the chemistry developing across the roster, and defensive strategy shifts with Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon’s imminent returns.

Minnesota’s future prospects and trade rumors heat up as this new era unfolds—can the Wild maximize Hughes’ presence for a deep playoff run? Don’t miss this spirited analysis of Quinn Hughes’ arrival, Minnesota’s evolving identity, and why fans should expect even bigger things ahead.

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