ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild knew a trade of this magnitude would come with a cost. But inside the room, the reaction to landing Quinn Hughes was immediate and unmistakable.

Excitement mixed with the reality of losing teammates who had become close friends echoed throughout the locker room Friday night as players processed what adding one of the NHL’s elite defensemen means for the organization.

Here is how the Wild players reacted to the trade.

Kirill Kaprizov

Kirill Kaprizov didn’t hide his excitement, even as he acknowledged what went out the door to get Hughes.

“Yeah, I was excited,” Kaprizov said. “A big trade for us. It’s nice to have Quinn. It’s always tough to lose guys you play with for a lot of years — great guys.”

Kaprizov pointed to Hughes’ skating, vision, and hockey IQ as what separates him from most defensemen in the league.

“He’s one of the best players in this league and when you play against him, he obviously great offense and how he skating and his IQ in the game and how he read the game. He do a lot of good, good things, offensive, and he plays strong always.” 

As if Kaprizov is ready to receive passes from Hughes, Kaprizov smiled.

“He give me? I don’t know,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll see.”

Kaprizov also highlighted Hughes’ impact on the power play.

“Everyone knows how good he is on the power play and 5-on-5,” he said. “It helps us a lot, especially since we haven’t scored much on the power play the last couple games.”

Jared Spurgeon

Wild captain Jared Spurgeon hinted that the excitement inside the room was immediate.

“It’s an exciting time for us,” Spurgeon said. “We’ve played against him enough to know what he can do and how he can change a game. To have him on our side makes it exciting. We’re excited to get him here and get him going with this group."

Spurgeon pointed to Hughes’ ability to tilt the ice from the back end as what stands out most.

“Just how he can break pucks out and create offense from the D zone, and obviously on the power play he’s a special player as well. He can make plays that are so hard look so easy to him with his skating, so, like I said, we're excited to get him going here tomorrow, and bring him in.

Beyond Hughes’ individual skill, Spurgeon emphasized what the trade signals to the locker room.

"Just the belief we have in here, the players that we do have and the belief we have in here, honestly, they're feeling it too, so, like I said, we're very excited to get him in here. Not sure when he's getting in here tonight, but we’ll get going here tomorrow."

Still, Spurgeon acknowledged the difficulty of losing teammates midseason.

“It’s always hard,” he said. “You never want to see a teammate get traded. They’re great people and great teammates, and we wish them nothing but the best.”

Brock Faber

For Brock Faber, the trade hit on both ends of the emotional spectrum.

“It was a bit shocking,” Faber said. “You hate to see those guys go. But obviously, you love to see him come. One of, if not the best defenseman in the league so it’s awesome. It’s going to be an absolute treat because he’s terrible to play against, so having him on our side is going to be incredible.”

Faber called Hughes “terrible to play against,” which made the idea of having him on the same side even more appealing.

“The way he skates is something I’ve never seen before,” Faber said. “How skilled he is. He’s a competitor, too, and he wants to win. Yeah, there’s definitely a lot to admire about his game.”

Still, the loss of Zeev Buium hit close to home. Faber and Buium lived in the same building and would walk in together for every game. The Wild posted a photo of Faber before Saturday's game and he was walking in alone.

“That’s obviously the downside of it. Me and him got pretty tight over the past few months. It’s the worst part about this job, and that’s basically the only thing that I would say is ever bad about this job. It sucks to see him go but I’m happy for him. I think it’s going to be a good fit there. I thin he’s going to play a lot. Such an incredible player for he just turned 20. He’s a teenager. It’ll be good for him, and I’m excited to see what he does there obviously just nothing against us.”

Matt Boldy

Matt Boldy echoed the sentiment shared throughout the room.

“It’s exciting,” Boldy said. “It’s an unbelievable player that we’re getting.”

Boldy acknowledged the difficulty of losing close teammates but emphasized the impact Hughes can make.

“He’s one of the best defensemen in the NHL,” Boldy said. “A guy like that helps in every aspect of the game.”

Joel Eriksson Ek

Joel Eriksson Ek kept it simple and honest.

“It’s super exciting to get a player of that caliber,” Eriksson Ek said. “It sucks to lose the guys going the other way, but it’s part of it.”

On Hughes’ game and what he brings to the Wild's lineup.

“The way he holds onto pucks and finds open guys is top-tier,” Eriksson Ek said. “He’s one of the best defensemen in the league. I don’t know what more you need to say about him than that."

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