Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber Are Remaking the Wild's Ceiling — and the Props That Come With It

Minnesota eliminated Dallas in six games Thursday, winning 5-2 to clinch their first playoff series since 2015 and set up a second-round matchup with the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche. The closing statement belonged, in large part, to Quinn Hughes, who posted three points in the clincher — punctuating a series run that confirmed what Bill Guerin bet on when he pried Hughes from Vancouver in December: this defense pairing changes everything.

As Daily Faceoff reported, Hughes and Brock Faber posted a 7-1 goal differential at 5-on-5 across the Dallas series. That number is not a rounding error. It's a reflection of how fundamentally different this pairing looks from anything Minnesota has iced in the modern era. These two don't play shutdown hockey — they play possession hockey, dictating territory through skating and puck movement rather than physicality. Early in Hughes's tenure, the pair ran high-event — chances leaked both ways as opponents adjusted to a faster Minnesota. By the time the playoff weight intensified, the two had dialed in: more controlled, still aggressive, and devastating.

Faber already had the skating and hockey sense to be an elite partner for a point-producing defenseman. Hughes has the vision and first-pass precision to turn that skating into sustained zone time. Together, they generate shot attempts not in bursts but in sustained cycles — the kind that inflate shot totals organically, not via desperation volume. Hughes finished the regular season with 22 points in 34 games after the trade, averaging well over half a point per game in a market that still hadn't entirely priced him as a No. 1 option.

Heading into the Colorado series, Hughes's shots-on-goal and points props deserve serious attention. He averages 3+ shot attempts most nights when deployed at full run, and against an Avalanche team that surrendered offensive-zone time in stretches of their first-round series, the matchup looks favorable. Hughes already logged a multi-point night in Game 6 against Dallas — bettors should track his points prop closely in Games 1 and 2 before the market fully corrects. Faber's assists line is quietly worth a look as well; he functions as the outlet and the connector on this pairing, racking up secondary points in ways boxscores undersell. The Wild's team shot total against Colorado also warrants attention — this isn't a defense-first grind squad anymore.