Hughes arrives in Minnesota, impressing immediately with his calm demeanor and on-ice performance, fueling excitement for his future with the Wild.

ST. PAUL, Minn - Quinn Hughes has been in Minnesota for about a day. He came in on a flight last night with Wild General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin and Assistant General Manager Chris Kelleher.

"Yeah, he’s a funny guy," Hughes said about Guerin and his flight. "Obviously, a tremendous career, and I really appreciate him trading the assets that he did to get me. Some teams, they’re in until they hear what they have to trade to get me, but Billy was just full in. I think that was his first offer. So, obviously I want to do what I can here and prove him right. How he handled me with the 4 Nations last year, too, gave me a glimpse of what a good person he is. And, honestly, he was a big reason why I wanted to come here."

His comfort level stood out immediately. The way he carried himself after the game was incredible. He was calm, confident, and thoughtful. It made it feel less like he had just arrived and more like he had been part of the organization for years.

That ease carried over onto the ice.

He played his first game with the Wild on Sunday night amid a raucous home crowd that made its presence felt long before the puck dropped.

Warmups brought a noticeable buzz. Each touch of the puck drew a reaction from the 18,322 in attendance. The response from the stands was immediate, and so was Hughes’ awareness of it.

"It was pretty special honestly," he said. "I wasn’t expecting that. But that was very cool. I know it’s a hockey market but that was exciting."

The Roar Said Everything: Wild Fans Welcome Quinn HughesFrom roaring ovations to custom jerseys, Minnesota Wild fans declared their support for new defenseman Quinn Hughes.

For a player of Hughes’ stature — a Norris Trophy winner, a franchise defenseman, and one of the NHL’s premier puck-movers in the league, first impressions matter. Minnesota, in a span of hours, made one.

And Hughes noticed.

Minnesota toppled the Boston Bruins on Sunday for Hughes' debut by beating them 6-2. Hughes scored a goal and was the first star of the night even though both Kirill Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman had three points.

Heck, Kaprizov tied Mikko Koivu for second all-time in goals and the media still selected Hughes as the first star.

“The first thing is just the players and the guys in the room. Just getting a glimpse, obviously I met everyone four hours ago. Just how great the room has been and welcoming and obviously on the ice today just some of the elite talent they have," Hughes said on what excites him most about the Wild.

"Kirill gave me a pass in the second. I just wasn’t ready for it, and I would have had an open net. But as time goes on here, I start to read off him he starts to read off me. I think it’s going to take four, five, six games. But once we get rolling, I think we’re going to be hard to beat.”

the smile speaks for itself 😃 pic.twitter.com/GincKFeZ6E
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 15, 2025

Hughes, 26, was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 2018. He had been with them since but knew his time there could be coming to an end recently. His agent Pat Brisson and Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford worked on a list of places that Hughes would fit well in.

Minnesota was part of it.

"Yeah, honestly, I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say, but the ultimate respect for Jim Rutherford and Francesco Aquilini and the Aquilini Family. They were first class with everything that was going on. Obviously, it was a tough situation, but it felt like it was time. And I think Jim did too. But Jim and Pat, very lucky to have him. They were kind of talking a lot about places I might feel comfortable. And Jim was amazing with that. He cared about the person. He wanted me to go where he thought I’d be happy."

In the third period, Brock Faber made a play in the neutral zone to send the puck up the gut. Nicolas Aube-Kubel once touched passed it to Ryan Hartman who skated in and dropped it off for Hughes who scored his first goal with the Wild.

WELCOME TO QUINNESOTA pic.twitter.com/fqO9796iVC
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 15, 2025

It was the loudest I have ever heard the arena when he scored and when they announced his goal call. The State of Hockey is so pumped to have a superstar like Hughes and Sunday night showed why.

"Yeah, absolutely, warm-ups I think was the loudest I’ve ever heard it since I’ve played here," Faber said. "Obviously, everyone’s excited. The State of Minnesota is excited to get a player and person of that caliber, it doesn’t happen often that a guy like that gets moved, so it was really cool and it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch for our fans."

But this really doesn't all happen without the Wild's management and Hughes spoke so glowingly of them, but especially Guerin.

The hockey fit was important, obviously, but the people fit may have mattered just as much to Hughes and to the Wild.

Hughes spent time with Wild general manager Bill Guerin during the flight to Minnesota, and that interaction left an impression that extended far beyond small talk.

Meatballs, Latex Gloves, And A Franchise Defenseman: Inside The Wild's Blockbuster Trade For Quinn HughesA kitchen, meatballs, and latex gloves. That's where the Wild's blockbuster move for franchise defenseman Quinn Hughes ended. The window is now open.

The superstar defenseman was well aware that other teams were interested in him and sent offers. He was also aware that interest often stops once the real price becomes clear. Guerin didn’t hesitate. He committed and made the deal.

That matters to players and especially to the elite ones.

Hughes didn’t frame the trade purely in transactional terms. He framed it as belief and revealed how much weight he places on how organizations operate behind the scenes.

For Hughes, this wasn’t just about joining a good roster. It was about joining leadership he respected.

“I just got here, but a big reason why is obviously because I thought they’re a tremendous group, just playing them over the years. Hard to play against, really hard to play against, but got elite skill as well. Obviously, knowing that 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. But yeah to play with those guys I knew would be pretty good for me, too.”

It goes beyond the players though. Everyone knows how close this group of guys are. The core here is tight and all elite. When talking about Matt Boldy, Faber, Kaprizov and so on. Now adding Hughes to the core is dangerous.

And he respects the crap out of Guerin for trading the players he did to acquire the star.

So much so that even the rumors of him wanting to play with his brother in New Jersey or him wanting to be back home in Michigan and signing with Detroit, didn't even sound like they were serious when Hughes talked.

So how open-minded is he about signing long-term in Minnesota?

“Extremely open-minded. They got an amazing core," he said. "I’ve only been here four hours but getting 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 in warmups."

Nothing about Hughes’ first night in Minnesota felt temporary. From the roar during warmups to the trust shown by the front office, the Wild didn’t just acquire a superstar, they made a statement. Hughes hasn’t been here long enough to make promises, but he’s been here long enough to notice who believed in him, who valued him, and what it feels like to be wanted. For Minnesota, that impression may end up mattering just as much as the trade itself, the money itself or any other factor you want to put into it.

"I got a lot of time for Billy for quote unquote sacking up and making the deal like he did and just how he valued me. There are other teams that probably could have thrown in certain packages like that, too, but at the end of the day they didn’t want to do that or they didn’t want to trade two or three assets from their team. Billy did, so I’ll remember that and that means a lot to me that Billy did that.”

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