NHL EDGE stats comparison: Makar vs. Quinn Hughes

NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we compare the underlying metrics of defensemen Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche and Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild ahead of their matchup Sunday, the first since Hughes was traded.

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The Quinn Hughes trade to the Minnesota Wild brings even more intrigue to his matchups against Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, with both players ranking atop the defenseman leaders in key categories and now playing in the same division.

In terms of career points per game, Makar (1.09) and Hughes (0.94) rank first and second among active defensemen, and the top three teams in the NHL standings are from the Central Division: the Avalanche (55 points in first 33 games), Dallas Stars (51 points in 35 games) and Wild (47 points in 35 games).

The Wild host the Avalanche on Sunday (6 p.m. ET; FDSNWIX, FDSNNO, ALT) in the first matchup between Makar and Hughes since the latter was traded to Minnesota from the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 12.

Makar is a two-time Norris Trophy winner voted the NHL’s top defenseman (2022, 2025) and also won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year (2020), Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (2022). Hughes, meanwhile, won the Norris Trophy with the Canucks in 2024 and finished second behind Makar in the 2020 Calder Trophy race.

Makar has the most assists (30), points (40 in 33 games) and even-strength points (29) among defensemen this season. Hughes, who has two points (one goal, one assist) in three games since the trade, leads defensemen in power-play points (13) and the entire NHL in average ice time (27:39 per game) this season.

Here are three comparable underlying metrics between Makar and Hughes:

1. Skating distance

Hughes has skated the most miles skated in a single game by a defenseman (4.76 on Nov. 29) this season; that mileage was the second-highest mark in the entire NHL behind Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (4.83 on Oct. 8). Makar’s highest single-game skating distance was 4.55 miles (Dec. 9), which ranks fourth among defensemen and seventh in the entire NHL.

But Makar is slightly ahead of Hughes in total skating distance this season: Makar has skated 119.38 miles (96th percentile among defensemen), while Hughes has skated 118.28 miles (95th percentile). In terms of power-play skating distance, Makar (21.82 miles) and Hughes (19.72 miles) rank first and second among defensemen.

In terms of offensive zone time percentage, which is the percentage of time that the puck spends in the offensive zone while the player is on the ice and the game clock is running, Hughes ranks ahead of Makar. The offense revolved around Hughes in Vancouver, and his offensive zone time percentage for the season is in the 97th percentile among defensemen (47.1), while Makar ranks in the 86th percentile in that category (44.6).

2. Skating speed

Makar and Hughes each ranks among the top 10 defensemen in 20-plus mph speed bursts this season: Makar is fourth (85 in 33 games), and Hughes is seventh (68 in 29 games). From a team standpoint, the Avalanche lead the NHL in 20-plus mph speed bursts (1,115); the Wild, who rank 15th (717) in that category, should benefit immensely from the Hughes trade on both ends of the ice, especially in their transition offense.

In terms of max skating speed, Makar ranks second among defensemen (23.68 mph; 99th percentile) behind Nikita Zadorov of the Boston Bruins (23.84). Hughes also ranks highly in max skating speed (22.51 mph; 91st percentile) but is outside the top 10 at his position.

3. Shot metrics

In terms of hardest shot, Hughes ranks higher than Makar this season: Hughes is in the 87th percentile among defensemen (95.04 mph), while Makar is in the 82nd percentile (93.90 mph). But, in terms of average shot speed, Makar has the advantage (71.91 mph; 90th percentile among defensemen) compared to Hughes (67.46), who's slightly below the NHL average (67.67) in that category.

Hughes and Makar rank among the top 10 defensemen in midrange shots on goal: Hughes is second (33), and Makar is tied for seventh but not far behind (27). Hughes scored his first midrange goal of the season in his Wild debut on Sunday, while Makar has scored four midrange goals (tied for third among defensemen behind Zach Werenski’s 10, Jakob Chychrun’s six).

Below is the full shots on goal by location comparison, with Makar being a juggernaut at his position in all three categories. It’s worth noting Hughes missed five games for the Canucks because of injury earlier this season and also did not play in Minnesota’s first game following the trade (29 games played of a possible 35), while Makar has not missed a game this season (33 games played).

High-danger shots on goal
• Makar: 10 (98th percentile among defensemen; tied for fourth at position)
• Hughes: 2 (59th percentile among defensemen)

Midrange shots on goal
• Hughes: 33 (99th percentile among defensemen; second at position)
• Makar: 27 (97th percentile among defensemen); tied for seventh at position)

Long-range shots on goal
• Makar: 48 (98th percentile among defensemen; sixth in entire NHL)
• Hughes: 29 (86th percentile among defensemen)

Considering how the Hughes trade could elevate the Wild into a Stanley Cup contender, there will likely be more comparisons between Makar and Hughes when their teams face off again later in the regular season (Feb. 26, March 8 in Colorado) -- and potentially in the postseason as well.

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