The Minnesota Wild are off to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as they will take on the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche. A main reason the Wild are marching on is the play of defenseman Quinn Hughes. Remember, Wild General Manager Bill Guerin went all in back in December, trading for Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks.
Guerin had just signed Kirill Kaprizov to a record-breaking deal and knew he needed a game-changer on the backend for his team to win the Stanley Cup. He decided to go all in to get the defenseman, who previously was playing in Vancouver. Guerin’s gamble is paying off in spades for the Wild. Quinn Hughes set the Wild franchise record with 53 points in 48 regular-season games.
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Not to mention his puck possession numbers were the best in the NHL. Quinn Hughes is that much of a difference-maker from the backend. There is a reason why he and Cale Makar are considered the two best defensemen in the NHL.
TSN Hockey Analyst Martin Biron joined Jay Onrait on SportsCenter on Thursday and was asked about the performance of Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes against the Dallas Stars in Round 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs and why he is so dominant from the backend.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Jay Onrait: “Minnesota GM, Bill Guerin, gave up a lot to get Quinn Hughes, as you know, Marty, and he expected him to be a difference maker in a series like this, and that’s exactly what he was. He had eight points. He had the most points of any defenseman in the series. What stood out to you, Marty and Hughes’s performance in this first round?”
Martin Biron: “The puck possession before Game 6, Quinn Hughes had the puck for 26 minutes in the first five games of that series. The next closest player in the NHL was at 18 minutes. Imagine if you’ve had the puck eight minutes more than anybody else in the National Hockey League, in the playoffs. And when you look at Quinn Hughes, yes, the offense is great, scoring two goals, he only had two goals in 35 playoff games in his career, so two goals in Game 6 is amazing.
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But the way that he controlled the play, the way that he walks the blue line, the way that even defending, he takes the puck away from Dallas, and then he hangs on with the puck, waits for the right play to be there. It’s just so magical to see Quinn Hughes play when he’s at his best. And he was at his best against Dallas.
Now they’re going to need Quinn Hughes to be that way, or, even better, against Colorado, obviously going against Cale Makar. This is going to be a premium defenseman matchup, but when you have the puck possession that Quinn Hughes had in the first round, you’re not going to lose. It’s just that simple. The best player has the puck the most; it equals a win. And that’s what we saw in the first round for Minnesota.”
Expect more of the same from Quinn Hughes in Round 2 against the Colorado Avalanche if the Wild want to get back to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2003.
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