Did the Quinn Hughes Trade Make Minnesota a Cup Favourite?

Once the noise dies down, the real question isn’t whether the Vancouver Canucks’ trade of Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild is bold. The answer to that is easy: a big yes. Now, the question gets more straightforward and more complicated. Does the trade actually make the Wild a Stanley Cup favourite, or does it just move them into the serious conversation?

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Let’s Start With What’s Right in Front of Us

Start with the obvious. Hughes didn’t take long to announce that he had landed well in Minnesota. First game, first goal. Suddenly, the Wild looked a ton more dangerous than a team most people had pencilled in as “good, but not quite there.” The blowout win over Boston didn’t hurt either. It shows that having Hughes around was more than a lucky night. The Wild looked like a winning team — organized, confident, and suddenly capable of dictating play instead of reacting to it.

Hughes changes the ice in Minnesota. Their breakouts will become cleaner. Their transition game will be quicker. Their power play now has a legitimate engine with fuel to burn. Hughes doesn’t just add offence; he keeps the Wild out of trouble and lets everyone else slide into roles that give them a chance to perfect their game. To use the strangely accurate hockey impression, he tilts the ice for the Wild in ways that won’t always show up on the scoresheet.

There’s a Case For Believing Hughes Is the Wild’s Missing Link

Now, there’s a real case for the Hughes trade to make Minnesota a Cup favourite. They were already a good team, hard to play against, and deep down the middle. Now they’ve added a defenseman who can control pace and possession. Could they suddenly be a team built for playoff hockey, not just surviving it?

But there’s another side to this question of being a Stanley Cup favourite. Becoming a Cup favourite isn’t just about raising your ceiling. It’s about surviving four rounds of almost brutal attrition. Hughes helps, but he doesn’t erase questions about scoring depth when games tighten up. He doesn’t guarantee there will be no injuries.

And Hughes doesn’t make the Central Division any kinder. The Central is already the league’s toughest division and houses three of the NHL’s best teams. Two will probably knock each other out early.

The Wild Paid Big for Hughes. Where Does This Leave Them?

There’s also the cost Minnesota paid in the future. While that’s the price of doing business, it narrows the margin for error. This is a move that says “now,” not “eventually.” If they stumble, the cavalry won’t be coming to bail them out.

So where does that leave the Wild? They aren’t the favourite — at least not yet. But they sit more firmly in one of the contenders’ chairs. No other team wants to draw them. The kind of team that can beat you in a billion different ways. The kind that used to come up short, and now might not.

In short, Hughes makes the rest of the NHL take the Wild more seriously, and that happened immediately.

Related: Did Canucks Win the Hughes Trade?: Why the Buium Return is The Key