Minnesota
Eagles May Need Rookie To Step Up In Minnesota
PHILADELPHIA – There should be a better barometer on whether or not Eagles’ star cornerback Quinyon Mitchell has a chance to play at Minnesota this weekend when the first practice report of the week is released Wednesday afternoon.
The emerging second-year star player was forced to leave last Thursday’s 34-17 loss to the New York Giants after just 13 defensive reps with a hamstring injury.
Although a mini-bye should help a little with Mitchell, typically, 10 days isn’t going to be enough time to press the issue as a thoroughbred position where running is a key job descriptor.
Pushing things against a talented Vikings WR group of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor, and Adam Thielen, with an injury prone to aggravation, is a penny-wise, dollar-foolish approach with plenty of football left to be played this season for the Eagles, who remain in first place in the NFC East at 4-2 despite two consecutive losses.
Complicating matters is that right before Mitchell left against the Giants, struggling third-year CB Kelee Ringo was pulled for veteran Adoree’ Jackson, and ultimately both had to play, and struggled against the Giants’ much less imposing WR corps.
The easiest path for Vic Fangio to go against the Vikings without Mitchell is to keep the status quo of Jackson and Ringo outside, with Cooper DeJean remaining in the slot. The veteran defensive coordinator could also use DeJean outside opposite Jackson if he feels comfortable with either veteran Parry Nickerson handling the slot work or rookie fifth-round pick Mac McWilliams stepping up inside.
McWilliams was a healthy scratch over the last two games after being up as a reserve for the first four games, playing in three of those on special teams. To date, the Central Florida product has not taken a defensive snap.
If Mitchell is down on Sunday, McWilliams will almost surely be up, so Eagles On SI asked Fangio where the rookie is in his development on Tuesday.
“Potentially, [he] could get involved,” the veteran DC said of McWilliams. “We’ve been trying to focus him at one point on learning the nickel spot to be the backup nickel. Then we shifted our focus to try and get him to learn corner and be a viable option if we had issues out there.
“So he’s kind of been going back and forth.”
At 5-foot-10 and 191 pounds, McWilliams’ body type is better-suited for slot work at the pro level but most of his experience at UCF and Alabama Birmingham came outside, so there is less of a learning curve there for McWilliams.
MORE NFL: Eagles May Have To Get Creative To Replace Big Z
Minnesota
Minnesota weather: How cold it got on Saturday
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Temperatures dropped into the negative Saturday, with the coldest temperatures in the morning.
How cold it got in Minnesota Saturday
By the numbers:
Here is how cold the temperatures got in Minnesota:
- Hinckley: -20 degrees
- Bemidji: -20 degrees
- Ely: -18 degrees
- Brainerd: -18 degrees
- Detroit Lakes: -18 degrees
- Hibbing: -17 degrees
- International Falls: -17 degrees
- Duluth: -16 degrees
- Alexandria: -12 degrees
- St. Cloud: -12 degrees
- Cambridge: -11 degrees
- Grand Marais: -10 degrees
- Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport: -6 degrees
- Red Wing: -6 degrees
- Morris: -6 degrees
- Hutchinson: -5 degrees
- Rochester: -5 degrees
- Mankato: -3 degrees
- Windom: 0 degrees
- Marshall: 0 degrees
Here are the lowest wind chills across Minnesota from Saturday:
- Bemidji: -37 degrees
- Ely: -35 degrees
- Duluth: -34 degrees
- Brainerd: -32 degrees
- Detroit Lakes: -32 degrees
- Hibbing: -31 degrees
- Alexandria: -29 degrees
- Hinckley: -27 degrees
- Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport: -24 degrees
- St. Cloud: -24 degrees
- Willmar: -22 degrees
- Cambridge-21 degrees
- Grand Marais: -21 degrees
- Hutchinson: -21 deegres
- Morris: -20 degrees
- Faribault: -18 degrees
- Mankato: -18 degrees
- Marshall: -17 degrees
- Red Wing: -16 degrees
- Owatonna: -16 degrees
- Windom-12 degrees
Cold continues Sunday
What’s next:
The Twin Cities are under a cold weather advisory that is expected to last through Sunday morning, so residents should prepare for frigid conditions if they have plans to be outdoors.
Sunday will be slightly less frigid with temperatures climbing above zero. However, it will still feel like 10 below zero in the afternoon.
Milder and warmer temperatures are expected to return for the work week.
Minnesota
Minnesota Wild acquires NHL star Quinn Hughes from Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade
The Minnesota Wild made an all-in move for one of the NHL’s best players in his prime, acquiring defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade — their boldest action yet toward ending a decade-long skid of playoff series defeats.
The teams announced the seismic move on Friday night, after the 2024 Norris Trophy winner as the league’s top defenseman had been the most talked-about trade candidate over the past couple of weeks. Minnesota sent center Marco Rossi, defenseman Zeev Buium, winger Liam Ohgren and a first-round pick in the 2026 draft to suddenly rebuilding Vancouver to complete the deal.
The trade was the second major swap of the day, after two-time Stanley Cup Final runner-up Edmonton finally made a move for a goaltender, acquiring Tristan Jarry from Pittsburgh.
Rossi (24), Ohgren (21) and Buium (20) fit the mold of the young talent the Canucks were speculated to be targeting if they were going to trade Hughes. Rossi (2020), Ohgren (2022) and Buium (2024) were all recent first-round draft picks by the Wild.
“Quinn played hard, led by example and did a lot of very good things for the Canucks,” Vancouver general manager Patrik Allvin said. “Trading away a player of this caliber is never an easy decision to make, but it was one we had to do to make our team better. We are so excited to add a solid centre in Marco, a good young blueliner in Zeev and a versatile forward in Liam. This year’s draft is a strong one, so acquiring a first-round pick was also a big part of this deal.”
Hughes had no trade-blocking protection in his current deal that pays him an average of $7.85 million annually. Hughes, who is 26 and widely considered the best at player on the blue line behind only Colorado’s Cale Makar, is signed through the 2026-27 season before he can become an unrestricted free agent.
The Wild will not be allowed to extend Hughes until July 1, and it’s unclear if he would consider signing a new contract with them. There has been plenty of buzz around the league that Quinn wants to play with his brothers, Jack and Luke, with the New Jersey Devils.
They could potentially be teammates on the U.S. Olympic team, either in February in Milan or in 2030. Wild general manager Bill Guerin runs USA Hockey’s management team.
The long-term outlook for Hughes can wait until next summer, though. The Wild are focused on challenging the two top teams ahead of them in the loaded Central Division, rivals that happen to also have the top two records in the NHL: Colorado and Dallas.
The season-long celebration of the franchise’s 25th anniversary would be a lot more meaningful if the Wild can finally advance in the playoffs, having lost nine straight series after a first-round victory over St. Louis in 2015. The Wild have passed the second round just once in their entire existence, when they were swept in the Western Conference finals by Anaheim in 2003.
Hughes is a significant upgrade to Minnesota’s blue line, anchored by captain and 16-year veteran Jared Spurgeon, smooth-skating 14-year veteran Jonas Brodin and young stalwart Brock Faber. The emergence of rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt this season has given the Wild a reliable tandem with Filip Gustavsson in the net, with star winger Kirill Kaprizov leading the attack after recently signing the richest contract in hockey history to stay in the “State of Hockey” through 2034.
After a rough start, the Wild are 14-3-2 since Nov. 1. They host Ottawa on Saturday and Boston on Sunday night, with the latter game likely the more realistic one for Hughes to debut.
Hughes had two goals, 21 assists and 32 blocked shots in 23 games this season with the last-in-the-NHL Canucks. When he won the Norris Trophy two seasons ago, Hughes had 17 goals and 75 assists, both single-season franchise records for defensemen and the most among all blue liners in the league. Drafted seventh overall in 2018 out of Michigan, the native of Orlando, Florida, spent time growing up in the Boston and Toronto areas while his father, a hockey coach, moved around.
This was Hughes’ third season as Vancouver’s captain, and his abrupt exit paves the way for more change 11 months since the trade of J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers and in the aftermath of coach Rick Tocchet’s departure.
“With the circumstances surrounding J.T. and now Quinn, we are fortunate to acquire these very good young players from Minnesota,” Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said. “They will be a key part of the rebuild that we are currently in, giving us a bright future moving forward. The hockey club will continue to build with talented young players using that as a blueprint to become a contender sooner rather than later.”
Minnesota
KSTP/SurveyUSA poll results: Fraud in Minnesota
KSTP/SurveyUSA poll results: Fraud in Minnesota
The first results of KSTP’s exclusive SurveyUSA poll on fraud in Minnesota have been released.
Our survey asked: Do you think fraud in state programs is the biggest problem in Minnesota?
From a group of 578 registered voters, 79% say it’s either the biggest problem or a major problem.
Another question asked was: Has Gov. Tim Walz done enough to stop fraud in Minnesota?
Fourteen percent say that he’s done enough, while 69% say he needs to do more.
The survey also asked if the Legislature has done enough — 11% say yes, and 74% say they need to do more.
Click here for KSTP’s full coverage on fraud.
You can view the results of the fraud-related KSTP/SurveyUSA results below:
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