The Minnesota Wild transformed their team when they acquired Quinn Hughes in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks last December. As a result, the Wild are well incentivized to sign Hughes to a contract extension before he enters the final year of his current deal next season.
There are many reasons why Bill Guerin has to get Hughes to sign on the line when he becomes eligible on July 1. But a hidden reason may be his effect on his defensive partner, Brock Faber, who hit an extra gear down the final stretch of the regular season.
“I think he opened my eyes completely,” Faber said during an appearance on the Wild on 7th podcast last April. “I’ve learned so much from him since he’s gotten here. Just about little things. For him, he obviously has that shiftiness that I’ll never have. …But that’s something that can’t be replicated.
“And with him, it feels like there’s so many things he does that are so little risk but high reward, where it’s like…I always thought being an offensive defenseman like him – and I’m not saying he’s perfect – but there’s a lot of times. There’s so many things he’s doing where he’s creating offense where if he turns that puck over, there’s nothing that comes from it. And that’s always a little thing that I had in my mind where I was like, always kind of scared to move around and skate and try to use my feet to get away from a guy. Because if I turn it over, I just felt like it might end up in the back of the net.
“But…I feel like he’s opened my eyes so much in that aspect, where I feel like I’m just getting more and more confidence with the puck on my stick, wanting it on my stick and being confident that I can catch a guy on the way back if something bad happens. It’s crazy how much I’ve learned from him, since he got here. It’s crazy.”
Quinn Hughes unlocked Brock Faber’s offensive game for the Wild
Faber’s quotes show up in his stats. The 23-year-old had a strong rookie year with eight goals and 47 points during the 2023-24 season but his numbers dipped to 10 goals and 29 points in 78 games during the 2024-25 campaign. Wild fans may not remember it, but Faber struggled out of the gate and pressed at the beginning of last year but everything changed when Hughes arrived on Dec. 14.
With nine goals and 36 points in the final 48 games of the season, Faber unlocked an offensive side that carried into the playoffs with four goals and 11 points in 11 games. But the effect Hughes had on Faber was that he showed him how to unlock the offensive side of his game while posting a plus-16 plus/minus rating in the final 48 games and a plus-11 during the playoffs, forcing Guerin to take notice when he appeared on the Wild On 7th podcast this week.
“I felt like the big change when Quinn got here, and, you know, Quinn’s…spinning and getting involved in the play and diving down and interchanging and I think Fabes, it was almost like a bell went off and Fabes was like ‘Oh you can do that. I’m going to start trying that.’ And it turns out he’s really good at it.”
The overall numbers were great as Faber wound up with career highs in goals (15), points (51) and plus-minus rating (51) during the regular season. And it also could get better if Hughes signs an extension this summer.
It’s just one of many players that Hughes has affected since coming to Minnesota and a big reason why the Wild shouldn’t hesitate to sign him to a contract extension this spring. But if they have any hesitation, all they have to do is look at Faber’s evolution this season and put the money on the table.
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