DALLAS \u2014 What started as a harmless neutral-zone faceoff turned into the Quinn Hughes Show.<\/p>\n
It was last Thursday in Dallas, with the much-hyped showdown between the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars serving as a spicy preview for the upcoming first-round series. The Wild were down 1-0 midway through the first, but Hughes \u2014 the 2024 Norris Trophy winner \u2014 nearly singlehandedly changed that.<\/p>\n
On a quick regroup at the Minnesota blue line, Hughes picked up speed as he started a give-and-go with Mats Zuccarello, who was positioned at the Stars blue line. Hughes then blew by several Dallas defenders, including one of the NHL\u2019s best defenseman, Miro Heiskanen, on his way to beating Jake Oettinger bar down to tie the game.<\/p>\n
The vision. The skating. The playmaking ability. All are elite.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of one, almost, in the league,\u201d Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d Vegas Golden Knights coach John Tortorella says.<\/p>\n
\u201cA difference-maker,\u201d says Philadelphia Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, Hughes\u2019 former coach with the Vancouver Canucks. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy, in a seven-game series, that can tilt the series in your favor.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s precisely why Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin gave up a haul in a mid-December, franchise-altering blockbuster to acquire Hughes from the Canucks. Minnesota, which hasn\u2019t won a playoff series in a decade, boasted arguably the best team in its 25 years in the league but needed another big swing to put itself over the top.<\/p>\n
Playing in the same division as two other top teams, the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, many around the league believe Hughes could be an X-factor in the playoffs \u2014 much like Cale Makar is for the Avs and Heiskanen for the Stars.<\/p>\n
Hughes, who wasn\u2019t at Tuesday\u2019s finale and didn\u2019t take part in the Wild\u2019s \u201cJersey off our backs\u201d event, didn\u2019t practice Thursday because he was sick, but is expected to be on the team\u2019s flight to Dallas in the afternoon, where they hope he\u2019ll be healthy enough to practice Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Wild are a Stanley Cup threat, no doubt, because they\u2019ve got Quinn Hughes,\u201d says Cup winner Brian Engblom, who now does color for the Tampa Bay Lightning. \u201cHe\u2019s the elite of the elite. That\u2019s the one thing that really puts you over the top, is when you have a guy that can play 30 minutes. He\u2019ll play 35 minutes in some of these games, and he\u2019ll be in control 9 1\/2 times out of 10. What\u2019s the price on that? He\u2019s fascinating to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why can Hughes be a series-swinger for Minnesota? The Athletic spoke to players and coaches around the league for their insight.<\/p>\n
Nobody has the puck more than Hughes, and that\u2019s not an exaggeration.<\/p>\n
The Wild defenseman leads the league in puck possession time this season at 285 minutes, 34 seconds, far ahead of second-place Lane Hutson, who had the puck on his stick for 229:13, according to Sportlogiq. He\u2019s a one-man breakout, a play-driver and a stabilizer who can get the team out of trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe reminds me of Bobby Orr,\u201d Engblom says. \u201cThe way he skates, the way he thinks the game, the way he controls the game for 27 to 32 minutes. A guy can play that much and look like he\u2019s not even sweating. He\u2019s so easy. So much flow to his game. He knows instinctively what\u2019s happening, where to put the puck. He\u2019s a great passer. He has that sweeping, surfing style.<\/p>\n
\u201cScott Niedermayer was a lot like that. He could completely disarm plays and take care of things defensively and turn it and go. His escapability is so much like Orr, too. They can\u2019t even touch him. The guy is right there, and then he\u2019s three steps behind. It\u2019s just like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hockey IQ is Hughes\u2019 superpower, with his instincts part innate, part earned.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s from a huge hockey family. Brothers Jack and Luke Hughes are both NHLers, and their parents, Jim and Ellen, are also heavily involved in the game. Their summer skates in Michigan, led by Jim, are legendary, featuring stars like Dylan Larkin, Zach Werenski, Kyle Connor, Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Sanderson. Hughes has meticulous preparation, which comes from being an admitted \u201chockey nerd.\u201d He watches a ton of hockey.<\/p>\n
His college coach at Michigan, Mel Pearson, saw it from the beginning.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thinks it 24\/7,\u201d Pearson says. \u201cHe takes great pride in it. He\u2019s so competitive. He\u2019s always thinking about the game, watching other teams. He\u2019s got a love of the sport. Most of the great players love it, have passion for it. Some think they do, but they don\u2019t really. As (former Michigan coach Red) Berenson would say, \u2018Have that fire in your belly like Quinn does.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Tortorella says he focused on Hughes intently as his assistant coach on the U.S. Olympic team, paying attention to how Hughes prepared for practices and games.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s all business,\u201d Tortorella says. \u201cHe leads the way in understanding preparation and wanting more. He\u2019s special, man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a killer,\u201d says Stars defenseman Tyler Myers, Hughes\u2019 teammate in Vancouver. \u201cHe\u2019s really dissecting how to pick apart other teams each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tocchet recalls that when he first got the Canucks job, Hughes told him, \u201cTocc, I\u2019m going to increase my shot velocity. There\u2019s a couple things I want to try.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he worked diligently, and he did,\u201d Tocchet says. \u201cI bet you he put 12 miles an hour on his shot and ended up scoring 20. He just did some stuff where you can tell it was reps and reps of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hughes doesn\u2019t have the size of other shutdown defensemen, but he doesn\u2019t need it with the way he plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can defend in other ways. Is he going to go flying in the corners and knock people around? No,\u201d Tocchet says. \u201cBut he defends with his brain and his quickness. He would challenge me because he\u2019d go, \u2018Tocc, I want to be out there last minute.\u2019 Sometimes we didn\u2019t put him out there when I first got there, and he\u2019d challenge us. I want to get out there last minute because he wants to be known as a defender. Little bit of a chip early on that, \u2018Hey man, I can defend,\u2019 and that\u2019s what I love about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
For years, the Wild have been looking for a legit No. 1 center. Or a scoring winger.<\/p>\n
The idea is to spark more offense. In previous playoffs, they\u2019ve relied too much on Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy.<\/p>\n
Hughes didn\u2019t fill either of those openings, but he did solve the problem. The Wild have been a more potent and balanced offense with him. Part of that is Hughes\u2019 skills in breakouts and transitions, with his 13.4 zone entries per 60 minutes second to only Matthew Schaefer, per Evolving-Hockey<\/a>. And Hughes does a tremendous job turning those into chances.<\/p>\n Before Hughes arrived in mid-December, Minnesota was 14th in the NHL in expected goals per 60 at five-on-five (2.69) and 31st in actual goals per 60 (2.07), per Evolving-Hockey. With Hughes, they\u2019ve moved to seventh in expected goals for per 60 (2.98) and 10th in actual goals per 60 (2.80). Their power play got a big boost too, where the Wild went from middle of the pack to a top-five unit in goals, real and expected.<\/p>\n \u201cQuinn Hughes changes the look and feel any time he touches the ice surface,\u201d Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill says. \u201cThey had a really good team before they got Quinn, but they\u2019ve got a better team with him. There\u2019s zero doubt. He\u2019s just that kind of an impact player. Every time he\u2019s on the ice, he\u2019s super dangerous.<\/p>\n \u201cI look back to one of the goals they scored late against us in Minnesota. I thought we defended him all right, but he still found a way to get the puck to the net. Next thing you know, it\u2019s a tap-in goal. That\u2019s what he can do. He\u2019s an automatic breakout.<\/p>\n \u201cUnreal competitor, unreal person and one of the very, very elite talents of our league.\u201d<\/p>\n The Wild score 3.72 goals per 60 with him on the ice at five-on-five, which is tops in the league for everyday defensemen, per Evolving-Hockey. To put that in perspective, that\u2019s a 1.05 goals per 60 increase relative to his teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has the puck on his stick the whole time,\u201d Lightning coach Jon Cooper says. \u201cHe can create offense. He defends. He\u2019s a unique, dynamic player. There\u2019s not many guys like him at all. So he\u2019s clearly made them better.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan Hartman has played well<\/a> as the team\u2019s No. 1 center with Kaprizov and Zuccarello, and Joel Eriksson Ek is their top two-way, shutdown center who anchors the Boldy line. The fact that the Wild have play-driving wingers in Kaprizov and Boldy and now an elite puck-mover in Hughes has mitigated the need for the major acquisition up the middle.<\/p>\n Tocchet says that before a late-season game in Minnesota this season, 12 minutes of their 15-minute prescout was dedicated to Hughes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a different game now,\u201d Tocchet says. \u201cYou need four people in the rush. You need three or four people in the corner to squash plays.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a high-wire act when it comes to \u2014 there\u2019ll be a winger on him, and somebody will come flying at him. Most D will just reset the puck behind the net. He\u2019s like \u2018No.\u2019 He\u2019ll take them on and beat somebody like a basketball guy.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t just defer to throw it away. He goes, \u2018OK, I\u2019ll go around you then,\u2019 and then when he goes around you, he\u2019s got a free lane to the net.\u201d<\/p>\n Brock Faber has talked often about how playing with Hughes has significantly improved how he plays offensively. How he sees the game.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that you learn from him in such a short period,\u201d Faber says. \u201cThe way he sees the game is just different than 99 percent of the league.\u201d<\/p>\n You can see it in how much more comfortable and confident Faber is moving the puck up the ice, creating offense, pinching. He\u2019s shooting more. And he doesn\u2019t have the burden of being the No. 1 guy. He can focus on his defending.<\/p>\n When they\u2019re on the ice together, the Wild handily control the run of play, producing much more offense (3.94 goals per 60, per Evolving-Hockey) than with Faber and Jonas Brodin as the top pair (2.33).<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re down a goal or down a couple goals, it doesn\u2019t feel like you\u2019re ever out of it,\u201d Faber says. \u201c(Hughes) can make two plays or a play like that, so quick, every shift, if he\u2019s pushing for it. He wants to play in big games, wants the puck on his stick in big games.\u201d<\/p>\n The Hughes-Faber combination has a trickle-down effect on the rest of the blue line. That means Brodin and captain Jared Spurgeon, who have so much chemistry together, can be a formidable shutdown pair. They combine for a plus-9.1 Defensive Rating and make up one of the top pairs in the league. The duo\u2019s shot suppression is also elite, limiting opponents to 2.08 xG per 60 at five-on-five. And, boosted by their goaltending, Spurgeon and Brodin have allowed even fewer goals against (1.33 per 60).<\/p>\n The Stars are a very deep offensive team, so the Wild will need their top four to all play at a high level. Jake Middleton, no longer in a top-four role, has fit well with Zach Bogosian on the third pair.<\/p>\n Is Hughes 1B to Makar? Or vice versa?<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s 1A,\u201d Pearson says. \u201cNothing against Cale Makar or Zach Werenski or these other defensemen, but he\u2019s as good as any of them. On certain nights, he might have a better night. You talk about franchise defensemen who are all-world, and I put Quinn 1A.\u201d<\/p>\n Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger has long admired Hughes from afar. When he saw Hughes traded to the Wild, he was happy for him but \u201calso kind of mad, because I knew we were going to see a lot of him,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s one of the best defensemen in the league,\u201d Oettinger says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not surprising how good he\u2019s done for the Wild and how good they\u2019ve been since they got him.\u201d<\/p>\n As Engblom points out, just getting out of their own division will be extremely challenging for the Wild. But how the likes of Hughes, Makar and Heiskanen play can go a long way in determining who wins.<\/p>\n \u201cThose guys know how to dominate in those situations, when you\u2019re down by a goal or two goals and it\u2019s late in the game, \u2018Whatever you got to do, kid, do it,\u2019\u201d Engblom says. \u201cThe rest of us will figure it out and cover up. That\u2019s the luxury you have when you have a guy like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Hughes has been a big-game player, as shown in the Olympics, where he played more minutes than any skater. His overtime goal against Sweden will forever live in hockey lore in the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cI just love the way he competes,\u201d says Adam Foote, Hughes\u2019 last Canucks coach. \u201cYou can sit there and talk about the tools he has and the skillset, but it means nothing if he doesn\u2019t compete like he does. He wants to win. He wants to be on the ice. He wants to be in the big moments. You saw it in the Olympics. It\u2019s who he is. He\u2019s got a lot of swag, but it\u2019s good swag.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Data via Dom Luszczyszyn, Evolving-Hockey<\/a> and AllThreeZones<\/a>. Shayna Goldman contributed to this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALLAS \u2014 What started as a harmless neutral-zone faceoff turned into the Quinn Hughes Show. 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