Wild’s Quinn Hughes becomes first defenseman with 60 assists in 60 games since 1993
Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes racked up another impressive achievement in his young career with a pair of assists in Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Hughes, 26, set up both Minnesota goals en route to a 3-2 shootout loss, becoming the first defenseman to collect at least 60 assists in his first 60 games of a single season since Paul Coffey did so in 1992-93.
After recording two goals and 21 assists with the Vancouver Canucks over his first 26 games of the 2025-26 season, Hughes has amassed four goals and 39 assists in 34 games since being acquired by the Wild in a blockbuster trade back in December.
Like Hughes, who has played for both the Wild and Canucks this season, Coffey split the 1992-93 campaign between two teams and recorded 61 assists in his first 60 games. The future Hockey Hall of Fame inductee ultimately finished that season with 12 goals, 75 assists, and 87 points in 80 games with the Los Angeles Kings and Detroit Red Wings.
60 assists in 60 games for Quinn Hughes. The last defenseman with at least 60 in 60 games was Paul Coffey in 1992-93 39 assists in 34 games with the #mnwild
The Canucks traded Hughes to the Wild on Dec. 12, 2025, in exchange for Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round pick. Since then, the two teams have been on vastly divergent paths, with the Canucks sinking to the very bottom of the NHL standings and the Wild cementing themselves among the top three teams in the Western Conference.
Originally drafted by the Canucks with the No. 7 overall pick in 2018, Hughes spent parts of eight seasons in Vancouver to begin his NHL career and made two playoff appearances, in 2020 and 2024. But the Canucks chose to trade their superstar defenseman instead of running the risk of him leaving for nothing as an unrestricted free agent in 2027.
Coffey was no stranger to playing in different locales during his 1,409-game NHL career, although he enjoyed his greatest success (and won his Stanley Cups) with the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Weston, Ontario product collected 396 goals and 1,531 points with nine different NHL clubs between 1980 and 2001.
After losing to the Flyers on Thursday, Hughes and the Wild will return to action on Saturday to play host to the New York Rangers at the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.