In the wake of the Elliotte Friedman "prediction", I'm going to keep this short for you guys. We've already gone over the reasons why Jersey is most likely, reasonable and desirable eventual destination for Quinn Hughes and I'm not going to bombard you with all of those again. So what is the reasoning behind this Friedman crystal balling that has lead NHL fans to near hysteria?
More clicks, more views, more followers, more subscribers, more "Elliotte Friedman" google searches and more dollars. Friedman is a pro, one of the best at his craft and kudos to him to drop this "prediction", (which is all it is, nothing more) on a day where Minnesota and Quinn Hughes are trending harder than ever! Nothing changes with one great game and or a first round win. It's not like the prediction came to him in his sleep as an overreaction to Thursday's game six. Friedman is not one to overreact, jump the gun, or prematurely hop on any band wagon. This one was in his holster for a while and having the restraint to not discharge this weapon until the time was exactly right, is what makes Friedman great(for his own brand at least).
This has way less to do with his changing views on Quinn and all to do with the fact that the Minnesota Wild just won their biggest series since they went to the Conference Final in 2003. They're hot, Quinn had a monster game and all the buzz is on Quinn-esota. After Friedman's comment's on his 32 Thought's pod, the searches went from "Minnesota Wild Quinn Hughes" to "Minnestoa Wild Quinn Hughes Elliotte Friedman", genius way to further grow his brand when I'm not sure he really even could anymore. Why not throw out a prediction which only few will remember if it doesn't materialize, but Friedman will be sure to remind us of if it does? Nothing to lose and a ton of views to gain.
With that said here's my prediction which is the same as it was in 2025, Quinn ends up in New Jersey by 2028. The benefits of all three brothers living together in the NYC area in their mid to late 20's as successful sports icons cannot be replicated in any other NHL city(LA and Florida close but not quite). Leaving NJ for any other situation would be WILD!
Read between the lines when it comes to journalism as its no longer an art, but more a race to the most clicks...
Well it's kind of like and art to figure out creative ways to get more clicks...whatever, I'll never sell out like that(because I'll most likely never get the chance ). I'm not here for the money, just the emotional support of you fellow hockey fans... Thank you for reading, go yell at me in the comments!