Knights prepare for first meeting against ‘dynamic’ Hughes with Wild

Trying to slow down Quinn Hughes isn’t a foreign concept to the Golden Knights.

They’re familiar with the star defenseman’s game after seeing him in the Pacific Division the last seven years.

The Knights don’t have to worry about facing Hughes four times a year anymore, but they’ll have to deal with him Monday night as a member of the Minnesota Wild when the teams meet at T-Mobile Arena.

Coach Bruce Cassidy hasn’t seen too much tape of the 26-year-old in his new surroundings, but the concept will likely be the same. Hughes had three assists Saturday in the Wild’s 4-3 overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets.

“He’s a dynamic offensive force,” Cassidy said. “Really good in the o-zone blue line. That shouldn’t change.”

Minnesota going all-in

The Wild pulled off the season’s biggest blockbuster when they acquired Hughes, the 2024 Norris Trophy winner and former captain of the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 13.

Minnesota traded their top prospect in defenseman Zeev Buium, 2022 first-round pick Liam Ohgren and 24-year-old center Marco Rossi to land the player it feels can push them into Stanley Cup contention.

Hughes has one goal and seven points in seven games with the Wild. They’re 5-1-1 with him in the lineup.

“They’re playing as good as anyone in the league right now,” Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin said.

That lone regulation loss was a 5-1 defeat to the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 21. There’s no shame in losing to the best team in the NHL, as the Knights learned Saturday night in a 6-5 shootout loss despite leading Colorado by two goals twice.

The Knights spent Saturday battling an elite defenseman in Cale Makar, a puck-moving savant who can lead a breakout on his own.

“You just got to do a good job (on him),” captain Mark Stone said. “When he’s moving the puck, you’ve got to get a little rough on him. You don’t need to put him through the end wall, but you’ve got to get bumps on him and not allow him to jump up into the play.”

New element

The Knights are familiar with the Wild having seen them in the first round of the playoffs last year, a series the Knights won in six games.

Minnesota has always been a sound defensive team. The Wild have the third-best scoring defense in the league (2.59 goals against) anchored by the strong goaltending tandem of Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt.

Their top line, led by wingers Kirill Kaprizov (46 points) and Matt Boldy (45) gave the Knights problems in the playoffs.

Add the dynamic skill of Hughes, and it rounds out Minnesota’s star power.

“Every time you play them, it’s hard to generate offense,” Hanifin said. “Playing the way they do, and then adding a guy like Hughes, I think makes them more dynamic on the back end, and offensively, helps their team a lot.”

The decision to move on from Hughes wasn’t surprising. The Canucks are heading toward a rebuild that seemed impossible two years ago, when Vancouver won the Pacific Division and took the Edmonton Oilers to seven games in the second round.

Vancouver had to take back any valuable assets it could from Hughes, who was more than likely going to walk when he hit free agency in 2027.

The timing of the trade was surprising. The Canucks didn’t wait until the trade deadline in March to move Hughes.

It gives the Wild four months to integrate Hughes into the system. The key for the Knights is not allowing Hughes time and space to operate.

“Our job will be to keep him to the outside,” Cassidy said. “Once he gets in the middle of the ice, he’s really good at finding lanes to the net.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.