Does The Quinn Hughes Trade Make The Wild True Contenders?

The age-old question surrounding the Minnesota Wild has always been whether they are contenders or just a playoff team.

The Athletic has a Stanley Cup Checklist. It’s a tool that can help you understand where your team stands relative to past Stanley Cup winners, whether you have the pieces in place to bring Lord Stanley’s mug back to your state, or how far you are from achieving that dream.

For reference, here is the chart:

So let’s evaluate Minnesota’s roster and see how it stacks up against this list.

Franchise Forward:

This one is obvious. It’s Kirill Kaprizov.

The Athletic defines a franchise forward as an offensive carrier with strong defensive metrics. Kaprizov is on pace for nearly 100 points again and is one of the best wingers in the league. He’s a passable defensive player, and I think he falls into the solid category simply because he does not play center.

Overall, Kirill fits the mold well.

Star Forward:

Matt Boldy is Minnesota’s franchise forward and an ideal player for this role. 

Another year for Boldy, where he’s averaging over a point per game, makes him an ideal running mate for Kaprizov and a secondary scorer. Boldy is great defensively and has shown he can be a playoff performer, a great fit here.

Franchise Defenseman:

Welcome, Quinn Hughes.

The former Norris Trophy winner is the best defenseman the Wild have ever had. He’s a clear-cut No. 1 defender who can be a leader on the back end of a team. He’s an ideal player for this role, even with his sometimes questionable defensive metrics.

Shutdown Forward:

People outside of Minnesota may not see Joel Eriksson Ek as all that special. Still, he’s a legit Selke trophy contender who is amazing defensively without being a black hole on offense. He’s on pace for almost 60 points again. 

Ek is not the most flashy player, but he’s a solid fit in this role.

Star Goalie:

Pick your poisons for opposing teams. Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt have been fantastic this season. With either one of these guys, you’d feel confident in starting them in the playoffs.

Gustavsson and Wallstedt have been up and down in their careers, but if one of them gets hot, they should probably get the nod to start. Both of these guys are passable and could even move to solid or ideal, especially playing with the top four that the Wild have.

Scoring Forward:

Here is where the Wild kind of falls off.

Pick between Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson, or maybe Vladimir Tarasenko.

Zuccarello plays on the top line with Kaprizov, so he’d be the most likely candidate to fill this role. Still, he’s definitely on the passable end of this; without Kirill, he’s not a top-line player at all.

So the Wild miss out on this spot.

Scoring Defensemen:

While Brock Faber is not the most offensively inclined defender on the team, he’s shown a lot this season. With Hughes entering the fold, he will be better at five-on-five and potentially unlock more of his offensive game.

He had 47 in his rookie year and is on pace for over 40 again this season. Faber fits in the solid category for a scoring defenseman.

Shutdown Defender:

Brodin is the easy answer for Minnesota’s shutdown defender. One of the best defenders in the league fits this role perfectly. He’d be ideal or a luxury in this situation.

Support Forward:

Danila Yurov is probably the support forward for the time being. He’s shown he can be a solid two-way player who supports the top six. He’s played well with Kaprizov and Tarasenko. Maybe you have Johansson take this spot, but I feel Yurov will improve over time, whereas Johansson is 35 and his production may drop in the second half of the season.

Either way, this is probably a passable spot for the Wild.

Offensive Forward:

Tarasenko or Johansson fit this role here. Maybe you take Jojo, since he’s the one who's been with Ek and Boldy. But in either case, it’s not great. There’s no good fit for the Wild here.

Defensive Defenseman:

Jared Spurgeon should shine as Minnesota’s defensive defenseman. He’s a great defender, and with Brodin on the second pair, they make an elite shutdown pair that this team can lean on in the playoffs. Spurgeon is a luxury here.

Depth Forward:

I’ll take playoff Ryan Hartman here. For some reason, he’s able to take his game to another level in the playoffs. If he plays like he did against the Vegas Golden Knights last season, then he’s passable here or even solid as a guy who fills out the forward core.

Defensive Forward:

When healthy, Marcus Foligno or even Yakov Trenin fit this mold perfectly. Both have been among the best defensive forwards in the league over the past few years.

Are The Wild True Contenders?

Given this criteria, the Wild have a solid chance to win the Cup. Even if they were to make no moves, they’d be in it. With the strength of the defensive core and the ability of their goalies to be special, they could go far with Hughes, Kaprizov, and Boldy carrying the offense.

The true weak link here is the third forward, who can drive offense and be a legit top-line player on their own. Think of how the Pittsburgh Penguins added Phil Kessel to their already stud core of Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Now, I’m not saying call up Phil, but that’s the kind of move the Wild need to make to give them a real chance at looking like all the other teams that have won the Cup over the past 15 years.

So, does the Quinn Hughes trade make the Wild true contenders?

Yes, it does. The Hughes trade makes the Wild more of a contender than we’ve ever seen in 25 years of Wild Hockey in Minnesota. But this team is still a piece away from being the favorites.