Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar have spent more than seven years being measured against each other. On Sunday night, they will meet in the first Stanley Cup Playoffs showdown of their careers, with the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild opening a series at Ball Arena for a spot in the Western Conference Final.
That matchup has been coming since both defensemen made their NHL debuts 18 days apart and then began their first full seasons in 2019-20 as the sport’s most prolific offensive blueliners. Makar has piled up 507 points and 26 more goals than any other defenseman since then. Hughes is right behind him at 482 points and has 45 more assists than any other defenseman in that span. Together, they have won three of the past four Norris Trophies, with Makar finishing in the top three for five consecutive seasons and Hughes doing the same in each of the past two.
The comparison started long before this series. The two were linked while they were at Michigan and UMass, and their paths have crossed again through elite international hockey, with the same kind of mobility and puck-moving skill drawing constant attention. Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski put it plainly: he said they are the two best defensemen in the world.
Hughes sounded amused by the long-running debate. “It’s just funny,” he said, adding that it was “pretty cool to have been able to come in with him.” But he also framed the series as a real test, calling it “a great opportunity to go up against those guys” and saying, “We got a great team, and just looking forward to the matchup.” He also described Makar as “ultra competitive,” “always attacking,” “a great goalscorer” with “great hockey sense” and skating ability, before concluding that the Colorado star will be “a problem.”
Makar returned the respect. “There’s so much” he said when asked what he admires about Hughes. He said it is “incredible to watch” when Hughes has the puck, adding that Hughes is “very mobile and finds the right seams.” He also praised Hughes and Brock Faber together, saying they have been “incredible” and that they “make forwards’ lives challenging.”
The series opens with both teams missing a key defenseman, as the Avalanche are without Josh Manson and the Wild are without Jonas Brodin to start. Minnesota’s path to this stage was sharpened by a huge trade on Dec. 12, when it sent a large package of assets, headlined by former University of Denver star Zeev Buium, to Vancouver for Quinn Hughes. The deal was described as the biggest of the season, and the result was a Wild team that turned a strong winter into a serious playoff run by the following day.
For Minnesota coach John Hynes, the challenge has already been educational. He said the matchup has “made (me) a better coach, that’s for sure.” That may be the most honest way to frame this series: two of the NHL’s defining defensemen, judged against one another for years, finally get the kind of stage that can settle nothing except the next round.