Article: The Wild's Loss To Colorado Highlighted the Risk Of the Hughes Trade

[Tom Schreier]

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[Dis-allowed display name]

They might have been a bit tired on back to back games, but most of what I watched was entirely in our own end.  Tons of mistakes, weak clearing attempts, and fumbled passes made things worse.  I watched two periods of virtually no scoring chances and moved on.

I hope it was a bit of fatigue because it did not look pretty.

[Dis-allowed display name]

The upside is that everyone will learn whether Minnesota is ready to contend immediately. If Hughes doesn’t believe they can, they might want to flip him in the offseason to recover assets.

If they have to do this then Guerin screwed the pooch royally.  Who would trade much for a guy that would want out of this market and have two brothers on another team with free agency right around the corner?  New Jersey would not have to bid anything because they could just wait for him to hit free agency.  Other teams would know they have a slim chance of retaining him. We would have zero leverage.

The best we would get is some draft pick on a deadline deal to a team that wants a cup run and will pick at the very end of every round.  And we would have traded away basically four firsts for that prize.  

I hope he extends, but the flipping him to recover assets is admitting total defeat and a franchise killing mistake.

 

Edited Monday at 08:20 PM by Dis-allowed display name

[Pewterschmidt]

12 minutes ago, Dis-allowed display name said:

The upside is that everyone will learn whether Minnesota is ready to contend immediately. If Hughes doesn’t believe they can, they might want to flip him in the offseason to recover assets.

If they have to do this then Guerin screwed the pooch royally.  Who would trade much for a guy that would want out of this market and have two brothers on another team with free agency right around the corner?  New Jersey would not have to bid anything because they could just wait for him to hit free agency.  Other teams would know they have a slim chance of retaining him. We would have zero leverage.

The best we would get is some draft pick on a deadline deal to a team that wants a cup run and will pick at the very end of every round.  And we would have traded away basically four firsts for that prize.  

I hope he extends, but the flipping him to recover assets is admitting total defeat and a franchise killing mistake.

 

Yes this is the worst case scenario and hopefully doesn’t happen because this org will look the same way it did at end of Fletcher era, bare cupboards.  And a middling core that just couldn’t get over.  
That’s why it’s imperative Guerin brings in an effective top 6’r this season.  Doesn’t need to be tage Thompson.  I think the bar could be as low as Schenn from STL.  
but if he doesn’t and we have to watch the lollipop guild get face washed out of round one those tickets will be a tough sell next season.  And that is OCL’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd priority

[Pewterschmidt]

18 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Yes this is the worst case scenario and hopefully doesn’t happen because this org will look the same way it did at end of Fletcher era, bare cupboards.  And a middling core that just couldn’t get over.  
That’s why it’s imperative Guerin brings in an effective top 6’r this season.  Doesn’t need to be tage Thompson.  I think the bar could be as low as Schenn from STL.  
but if he doesn’t and we have to watch the lollipop guild get face washed out of round one those tickets will be a tough sell next season.  And that is OCL’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd priority

We’ve now traded away brackett’s mn wild drafts (yes I know there are 4th rounders still in the system) for: 1) hughzy 2) wall-e 3) yurovzy 4) the Jiri project™️

[Beast]

I’m not overly concerned.  The record is now even on the year with Colorado.  We had 8 minutes of penalties that they cashed in, while we didn’t.  They also scored an empty netter.  It was 2-1 Colorado at even strength. 

Wallstadt still had a save % over .900, and the PP is a work in progress after adding a new QB.

We also had 7 guys playing a back to back who have spent significant time on the shelf, while Colorado had a rest day, and had played 1 game in 4 days (this was our 3rd game since December 16th, Colorado’s second - on top of our back to back. They were much more rested).  We have also been playing primarily playoff teams in much of December, while they’ve had one of the easiest schedules in the league.

Lastly, you know Colorado was extra amped to make a statement after the Hughes trade.

We weren’t going to win every game the rest of the year.  It says absolutely nothing about the playoffs (that we already didn’t know).

Were Avs fans panicking about their roster when they lost to Nashville recently?  It happens.

I mean, Colorado is an absolute wagon.  One of the best teams ever.  We’re not likely to beat them in a playoff series with or without Hughes and a new center.  This game adds no further context.  I did not think we would be the favorites in a playoff series before the game, and think our odds are about the same after the game.

[Beast]

46 minutes ago, Dis-allowed display name said:

The upside is that everyone will learn whether Minnesota is ready to contend immediately. If Hughes doesn’t believe they can, they might want to flip him in the offseason to recover assets.

If they have to do this then Guerin screwed the pooch royally.  Who would trade much for a guy that would want out of this market and have two brothers on another team with free agency right around the corner?  New Jersey would not have to bid anything because they could just wait for him to hit free agency.  Other teams would know they have a slim chance of retaining him. We would have zero leverage.

The best we would get is some draft pick on a deadline deal to a team that wants a cup run and will pick at the very end of every round.  And we would have traded away basically four firsts for that prize.  

I hope he extends, but the flipping him to recover assets is admitting total defeat and a franchise killing mistake.

 

This is an extreme knee-jerk reaction to 1 game.  If Hughes makes any sort of decision based on 1 game, is he the kind of guy you want on your team?  How is he going to be successful anywhere with that sheer lack of resilience?  How could Hughes look at Nee Jersey or Detroit, the two other likely destinations, and think they’re in a better position?

Hughes is a smarter guy than that.  If he determines he doesn’t want to sign here, he’s either already made that decision, or that decision comes as a result of another playoff flop later this season.

Total defeat is not flipping Hughes.  It’s Hughes playing out his deal here and walking with no value in return.  That would set the franchise back a decade.  I’d commend Bill for flipping Hughes if there’s any reservation on extending here.  

[Scalptrash]

A more interesting thought; which 1C could the Wild have gotten for the same assets? I bet Buffalo would have parted with Thompson AND Tuch for that haul. Would that have helped the Wild more? A true 1C with size and strength, and another top six winger who is also big and can score. Franchise holes filled with beef and skill. Completely different team, but a lot more depth.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Quote

If Bill Guerin adds a scoring forward and potentially another center, the Wild may be contenders throughout Kirill Kaprizov’s prime.

He had the assets to add a substantial forward, prior to the trade.

Now, it's hard to say who he could add with significantly more limited assets.

[MNCountryLife]

4 hours ago, Beast said:

I mean, Colorado is an absolute wagon.  One of the best teams ever.  We’re not likely to beat them in a playoff series with or without Hughes and a new center.  This game adds no further context.  I did not think we would be the favorites in a playoff series before the game, and think our odds are about the same after the game

A lot can happen between now and March.   I agree with your assessment that the Avs had a couple key advantage on this one.   It will be closer the next game. Will be a fun year. 

[PiranhasOnIce]

4 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

A more interesting thought; which 1C could the Wild have gotten for the same assets? I bet Buffalo would have parted with Thompson AND Tuch for that haul. Would that have helped the Wild more? A true 1C with size and strength, and another top six winger who is also big and can score. Franchise holes filled with beef and skill. Completely different team, but a lot more depth.

Lol.  In what world?   Buffalo is nearing desperation,  but that move sets them back a couple more seasons at minimum.  No one knows what Zeev becomes.  Or really Rossi.

[Pewterschmidt]

15 minutes ago, PiranhasOnIce said:

Lol.  In what world?   Buffalo is nearing desperation,  but that move sets them back a couple more seasons at minimum.  No one knows what Zeev becomes.  Or really Rossi.

Agreed.  And buffalo wouldn’t even do Rossi for peterka

[Enforceror]

1 hour ago, PiranhasOnIce said:

Lol.  In what world?   Buffalo is nearing desperation,  but that move sets them back a couple more seasons at minimum.  No one knows what Zeev becomes.  Or really Rossi.

...or Ohgren for that matter.

[goenzoy]

11 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Agreed.  And buffalo wouldn’t even do Rossi for peterka

Ever the same thing about Rossi 

Buffalo didn't take him because he didn't have a contract 

Rossi plays 20+  minute solid for Canucks now 

He was a legit 2C .Only ? with Rossi how much offense can he create without KK and Boldy 

And for Wild how much they have to pay to get a 2C replacement 

In my view Wild are short of Centers.Even more so with Rossi gone

[OldDutchChip]

Do we just stop playing hockey because Avs are amazing? Should the whole league just forfeit the year and give them the trophy? 

Maybe look at what winning a president trophy did for Tampa or Winnipeg or Boston (Two of those teams set point records too - didn't help in the POs) 

Playoffs are different beast. There would (hopefully) not be similar bs calls and QH will integrate into our O and D structure much better. There is also still potential to add a vet to help with top 9 scoring. 

Quote

The Wild might be tempted to highlight its 3-2 shootout win over the Avs in late November as evidence that they can hang with the league’s best team. That was before the Quinn Hughes trade that changed everything. Minnesota went from a .500 team that couldn’t score three goals per night to winning four straight by a combined score of 21-6. That’s 5.25 goals per game for those keeping score at home. 

So why can they not highlight a 3-2 win? They did not have Rossi then. They had raw rookie (Zeev) and now have QH replacing him. Yes, Makar is a better D, but Makar is on his own level - but the next D up is QH. 

You say that before they couldn't score, but now they do....so isn't that a good thing? 

Their D is just coming back together after injuries - so it may take a bit more time to gel.

The conclusion is that they might be one of the only teams (Dallas) that can match up with Avs. Yet here you are again - 

Still, as currently constructed, they’d lose to the Avalanche if they met in the playoffs.

again since Avs are that good - is your suggestion to punt the season? to trade away Kap, Hughes and Boldy and go into a rebuild? to admit trading Rossi was a mistake? Or trading Zeev was or Ohgren? what is the conclusion? seems like you are set to give Wild an F no matter what.

[Scalptrash]

12 hours ago, PiranhasOnIce said:

Lol.  In what world?   Buffalo is nearing desperation,  but that move sets them back a couple more seasons at minimum.  No one knows what Zeev becomes.  Or really Rossi.

I didn't know Buffalo was in contention right now, news to me, and the rest of the world! They are a minimum of two seasons away from becoming a wild card team. They need a shake up, again, and both Thompson and Tuch have hinted they want out. Buffalo is worse than the Wild when it comes to improving and moving the needle. They could, as always, use a big injection of young talent. They are perpetually rebuilding and have a history of trading their best players at the wrong time.

The prize is Buium, who any team in the NHL would trade something very good for. Rossi is not a 1C, but a solid 2C and can/will put up 60 points (if healthy). Ohgren is already starting to show what kind of player he can be, now that the expectations and pressure has been lifted. He could be a Tuch someday, or maybe even better.

Also, that was just an example of what the Wild may have been able to get for those four first round picks. A lot of people think small or narrow, think bigger. Billy never thought he could get Hughes, until he made a phone call. Idk if Hughes is the savior of this team and will catapult them to the SCF. Would love to see it, but I won't hold my breath. They still haven't addressed their biggest need in franchise history and I can make an educated guess that they won't sniff the cup until they do. Defense was set and sound, top six is still sorely needed, especially now. The youth and the future of this team was just traded away, the very small window is closing fast and will slam shut if Quinn doesn't re-sign.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

3 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

I didn't know Buffalo was in contention right now, news to me, and the rest of the world! They are a minimum of two seasons away from becoming a wild card team.

I mean, Buffalo has won 6 games in a row, and is tied for the fewest games played in the Eastern conference. I'm not calling them a cup contender, but they aren't far away from finding a spot in the playoffs.

If they beat Ottawa tonight, they'll be right on the edge of the playoff picture. Nearly the entire East is within 3 points of 40(12 out of 16 teams), so nobody is officially out of it, likely making it difficult to trade with anyone right now.

Comparatively, there are only 4 teams in that 38-43 standings point range in the West. Never know when GMs will be ready to go full rebuild, but fair to question if Buffalo is ready for that right now. If they go on another losing streak to fall back near the bottom of the East prior to the trade deadline, who knows.

[raithis]

4 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

seems like you are set to give Wild an F no matter what.

That's pretty much every story Schreier writes.  Look for anything negative, and then write an article about it while using poor examples and dubious logic.

Every article doesn't have to be something I agree with.  I appreciate good arguments/ideas that make me challenge my perspective even if I don't necessarily agree with the conclusion.  Sometimes it broadens my perspective and sometimes people have even changed it. 

That said, most of the articles from this guy have people poking holes into them because the reasoning usually doesn't support his topic/conclusion, and it's clear that the negative conclusion came first and he's just trying to find ways to make that opinion seem valid.

It's one game.

As was mentioned, Hughes is still getting acclimated and Colorado got more powerplays.  The Wild were also just getting players back that had been hurt before Hughes arrived. 

It was also the second night of the back-to-back, and the Wild have had to play a lot more games recently.  From December 12-20, the Wild had 5 games.  Colorado had 3.  So not only did the Wild play the day before, they also played 2 whole games more than the Avs recently. 

Making this out to be evidence that the Wild can't hang with Colorado at all ignores a lot that says they can.  Of course, they need to play better than they did in that game and pressure more than they did.  That will get them more powerplays too.  But it certainly doesn't mean that the Wild aren't capable.

 

[OldDutchChip]

3 hours ago, raithis said:

That's pretty much every story Schreier writes.  Look for anything negative, and then write an article about it while using poor examples and dubious logic.

Every article doesn't have to be something I agree with.  I appreciate good arguments/ideas that make me challenge my perspective even if I don't necessarily agree with the conclusion.  Sometimes it broadens my perspective and sometimes people have even changed it. 

That said, most of the articles from this guy have people poking holes into them because the reasoning usually doesn't support his topic/conclusion, and it's clear that the negative conclusion came first and he's just trying to find ways to make that opinion seem valid.

It's one game.

As was mentioned, Hughes is still getting acclimated and Colorado got more powerplays.  The Wild were also just getting players back that had been hurt before Hughes arrived. 

It was also the second night of the back-to-back, and the Wild have had to play a lot more games recently.  From December 12-20, the Wild had 5 games.  Colorado had 3.  So not only did the Wild play the day before, they also played 2 whole games more than the Avs recently. 

Making this out to be evidence that the Wild can't hang with Colorado at all ignores a lot that says they can.  Of course, they need to play better than they did in that game and pressure more than they did.  That will get them more powerplays too.  But it certainly doesn't mean that the Wild aren't capable.

 

agree there w you

if not for boneheaded play by Foligno - i thought we could get back in the game but to gift them a 4 min PP.....dumb

[Pewterschmidt]

32 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

agree there w you

if not for boneheaded play by Foligno - i thought we could get back in the game but to gift them a 4 min PP.....dumb

Such a brutal penalty at a terrible time of the game.   Remember when Foligno went full R-word in the Dallas series?  I know the refs were against us.  At least he brings the vibes in the locker room.  And he did that jump punch that one time.  
 

F-word should have been Guerin first trade in the slow steady progress toward our rebuild.  Instead we’re trading FOUR firsts for hughzy and an entire draft for the Jiri project™️.  
#don’t be dumb bill

 #too late

[mnfaninnc]

On 12/22/2025 at 4:03 PM, Beast said:

I’m not overly concerned.  The record is now even on the year with Colorado.  We had 8 minutes of penalties that they cashed in, while we didn’t.  They also scored an empty netter.  It was 2-1 Colorado at even strength. 

Wallstadt still had a save % over .900, and the PP is a work in progress after adding a new QB.

We also had 7 guys playing a back to back who have spent significant time on the shelf, while Colorado had a rest day, and had played 1 game in 4 days (this was our 3rd game since December 16th, Colorado’s second - on top of our back to back. They were much more rested).  We have also been playing primarily playoff teams in much of December, while they’ve had one of the easiest schedules in the league.

Lastly, you know Colorado was extra amped to make a statement after the Hughes trade.

We weren’t going to win every game the rest of the year.  It says absolutely nothing about the playoffs (that we already didn’t know).

Were Avs fans panicking about their roster when they lost to Nashville recently?  It happens.

I mean, Colorado is an absolute wagon.  One of the best teams ever.  We’re not likely to beat them in a playoff series with or without Hughes and a new center.  This game adds no further context.  I did not think we would be the favorites in a playoff series before the game, and think our odds are about the same after the game.

I want to take this thought a bit further. The Wild are having b2b 4/6 and they look exhausted right now. It's a combination of 7 players being injured and just coming back and the ones who were there overextending their TOI. Quite frankly, it was a very unlucky match up. 'Rado got to watch the Edmonton game the night before. 

Beast is absolutely right that Colorado is wagon right now. So, this is what I'd like to propose: Colorado picked up some pieces at the TDL last season, and went into the playoffs against Dallas only to lose in the 1st round. It takes time to acclimate, but they now have about 3/4rs of a season together and have already meshed. We've had 1 game with Hughes and the rest of the guys together. 1 game, no practices. The other 3 games were with 2/3rds of the team. They are what they are right now with a slight chance of improvement. MacKinnon and Makar have had a long time together. Hughes and Kaprizov and Boldy: 4 games. For Hughes, he's just lucky he gets the names right at this time. The Wild should continue to get better on a higher scale since they have more talent than they had. 

Furthermore, the great equalizer has not taken place yet: Injuries. While we just got back 1/3rd of our roster, it is too far away from the playoffs to consider this point. Does Colorado look as fierce if MacKinnon goes down to injury? Or Makar? I will admit that if we lose a center, like Ek, the same thing happens to us. I would say, however that catching Colorado in the 2nd round if they have to play a heavy team in the 1st that takes them the distance could have an impact on the 2nd round. Not catching the Avs in the 1st round would probably help anyone.

The biggest thing about injuries, though, is if they get clustered into a position. For instance, we do have depth on defense, but not at center. We do have 2 good goaltenders. I don't think Colorado has that depth on defense, and a cluster of injuries there would probably hurt them. If we do get an injury at center, or not, Guerin still needs to go get one. Could the Wild double dip for a center and pick up Pettersson? The only thing we really know is that we have an opening now that we didn't have 2 weeks ago. I don't think Ben Jones is the answer to that question. 

Also, over the past 5 games, to me, it looks like the Hughes trade was a real shot in the arm for the rest of the guys. To accomplish this, I suspect we will rob the cupboards again, and not expect a 1st round draft pick until '29. I'm ok with that. Hopefully, the acquired center will be in the 24-29 age range. I wouldn't mind ROR, but we can't give up the store for a guy that age. But, grabbing an ROR and a Tuch would probably make me very happy!

[mnfaninnc]

18 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

F-word should have been Guerin first trade in the slow steady progress toward our rebuild.  Instead we’re trading FOUR firsts for hughzy and an entire draft for the Jiri project™️.  
#don’t be dumb bill

I assume that the F-word you are talking about here wasn't FOUR.

[Pewterschmidt]

24 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

I assume that the F-word you are talking about here wasn't FOUR.

Foligno

[mnfaninnc]

37 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Foligno

You don't get banned for using that one. I'd already forgotten you can't use the R-word anymore. It was a staple insult word in my teens.

[PiranhasOnIce]

What's th R word?