The day every Minnesota Wild fan had been waiting for since Friday, Dec. 12, finally came; they only had to wait about two days for Sunday, Dec. 14, but that’s a lifetime for some fans when Quinn Hughes joins their team. The Wild had a superstar already in Kirill Kaprizov, but now they have two with Hughes coming into the picture, and many winning teams have at least two star players on their respective rosters.
Hughes played in his first Wild game on Sunday, and it went very well. They won 6-2, and Hughes had one of their six goals. After the game, he spent some time talking to the media about his trip here, how he feels about the team, etc. In this article, we’ll look at some of what he said, starting with how it was getting to Minnesota.
Hughes Arrives in Minnesota
Hughes had a very busy last few days, from getting the news he was being traded to trying to get everything sorted to move halfway across the country. At the time of the trade, he was in New Jersey, and somehow, in the chaos of everything going on, when Wild general manager Bill Guerin picked up Hughes, his equipment somehow got left behind. He claimed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” when asked, but luckily, his equipment arrived just in time, thanks to some “people in his corner”.
“That was pretty special, honestly. Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that, but that was very cool. I know it’s a hockey market but that was exciting,” said Hughes about the welcome he received from the fans and he continued on his goal, “Yeah, I mean Hartzy (Hartman) made a great pass there in front of me, I mean it’s impressive this team…and as I get going here, and feel more comfortable and get my legs under me. I’m excited.”
“Yeah he’s a funny guy and he, I mean obviously a tremendous career and really appreciate him trading the assets that he did to get me and some teams they’re in until they hear what they have to trade to get me but Billy (Guerin) he was just full in and I think that was his first offer and so obviously I want to do what I can here and prove him right and you know how he handled me with the 4 Nations last year too gave me a glimpse of what a good person he is and obviously he was a big reason why I wanted to come here,” Hughes said about his plane ride with Guerin to get to Minnesota.
Hughes Is Open-Minded About Staying
The biggest snag everyone has seen in this trade is how long the Wild could have Hughes before they have to try to get him to re-sign. Obviously, the main reason they went after him is his skill level, but also their confidence in being able to keep him here for years to come. While it would be great to have him for at least a season and a half, they want him here for the long haul, and hopefully, he does too.
“I just got here but I mean a big reason why obviously is because I felt they’re a tremendous group just playing them over the years, hard to play against, really hard to play against, they’ve got elite skill as well and obviously I knew I was going to be able to play with Faber, Spurgeon too, two elite players and Brodin and some other guys that are great back there Bogo (Bogosian), but to play with those guys in here would be pretty good for me too,” said Hughes about the guys on the Wild’s roster and if they’re ready for that next step.
Related: 3 Takeaways From the Wild’s 6-2 Win Over the Bruins
“Extremely open-minded. They got an amazing core, obviously… I’ve only been here four hours, but I’ve gotten to know some of the guys, and how energetic and positive guys are, and then Minnesota being so close to Michigan, and just the State of Hockey and the passion here. Just seeing how the fans reacted to me as well…obviously I got a lot of time for Billy (Guerin) for quote unquote sacking up and making the deal like he did, just how he valued me and there are other teams that probably could’ve thrown in certain packages like that too but at the end of the day they didn’t want to do that…I’ll remember that, and that means a lot to me that Billy did that,” Hughes said about re-signing his contract.
Clearly, everyone will be worried about his contract until they know his final decision, but that’s going to be a while yet; however, it sounds promising. He’s already shown his abilities in just one game, and it’ll be fun to see how he progresses when he’s more comfortable in the lineup and his teammates can read him a bit more. Hopefully, he’ll continue to have success and the rest of the team as well.
