While Hughes was a huge get for Minnesota, he\u2019s not the only whale of a defenceman the Wild have landed in relatively recent times and subsequently turned loose. Wisconsin boy Ryan Suter inked a massive contract to work in the Midwest in 2012 and by 2013-14, he was playing an absurd amount for the Wild. In fact, Suter\u2019s average ice time in \u201913-14 (29:25) and \u201914-15 (29:04) represent the highest totals in a season for any player since the league began tracking average ice time in 1997-98, and Suter is the only player ever to average over 29 minutes a night.<\/p>\n
Although his ice time isn\u2019t quite Suter-level just yet, if Hughes finishes the year above 27 minutes per night, he\u2019ll be the first player to log that many minutes since Dustin Byfuglien (27:27) and Drew Doughty (27:09) in 2016-17.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, the Wild\u2019s prized new possession isn\u2019t the only player hopping over the boards at every turn this year. With that in mind \u2014 and with every team in the NHL having now played its 41st\u00a0game of the season \u2014 we\u2019re using this edition of the power rankings to honour a minute-muncher or two from all 32 NHL teams.<\/p>\n
![\"32](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/32-Thoughts-podcast-Elliotte-Friedman-Kyle-Bukauskas-640x360.jpg\")
32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n
Latest episode<\/a><\/p>\n 1. Colorado Avalanche (31-4-7)\u00a0Brent Burns turns 41 in March and only seven players in their age-35 season or older have more total ice time than the Avs defenceman this year. The oldest guy who has more is Pittsburgh\u2019s Kris Letang and he\u2019s still two years younger than Burns.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Tampa Bay Lightning (26-13-3)\u00a0J.J. Moser is getting some Norris love at the halfway point, just signed an eight-year extension with Tampa and is leading the Bolts at 21:54 per night.<\/p>\n 3. Dallas Stars (26-10-8)\u00a0Miro Heiskanen has seen more total ice time than every other player in the NHL this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Minnesota Wild (25-11-8)\u00a0There\u2019s a real precedent for sending good defencemen over the boards in Minny. Since the start of his rookie year in 2023-24, Brock Faber has more total ice time than anybody in the NHL. Up front, Kirill Kaprizov (22:15) plays more than every forward in the league, save Connor McDavid (22:42).<\/p>\n 5. Carolina Hurricanes (26-14-3)\u00a0With Jaccob Slavin sidelined for much of the year, a few Canes blue-liners have had to step up, and Sean Walker leads the club at 22:48 per game. That\u2019s basically six more minutes per night for Walker, who\u2019s never averaged 20 per game in a full season.\u00a0<\/p>\n 6. Montreal Canadiens<\/a> (24-13-6)\u00a0Since Mike Matheson joined the Canadiens for the 2022-23 season, only five players \u2014 Zach Werenski, Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, Drew Doughty and Miro Heiskanen \u2014 have averaged more ice than his 25:06.<\/p>\n 7. Philadelphia Flyers (22-12-7)\u00a0Cam York\u2019s usage is up about three minutes per night from last year, to 23:00. Travis Sanheim is the only Flyer who plays more, at 24:32.<\/p>\n 8. Detroit Red Wings (25-15-4)\u00a0Moritz Seider is a horse, playing three minutes a night more than any other Wing. The big D-man is second only to Miro Heiskanen in terms of total ice time this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n 9. Buffalo Sabres (22-15-4)\u00a0Rasmus Dahlin continues to be Buffalo\u2019s go-to guy, leading the squad at 24:08.<\/p>\n 10. New York Islanders (24-15-4)\u00a0In the past 10 years, the only rookies to play more than Matthew Schaefer (23:46) are Brock Faber (24:58) and Owen Power (23:48).<\/p>\n 11. Seattle Kraken (20-14-7)\u00a0The Kraken have won eight of nine and Adam Larsson is logging big minutes during that span, playing nearly three more minutes per game (23:06) than any other Seattle skater.\u00a0<\/p>\n 12. Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> (20-15-7)\u00a0When the Leafs picked up Troy Stetcher on waivers in November, who would have believed he\u2019d land and play a reliable 20:30 per night?<\/p>\n 13. Pittsburgh Penguins (20-12-9)\u00a0Believe it or not, Bryan Rust \u2014 not Sidney Crosby \u2014 is the only Pens forward averaging over 20 minutes per game. That\u2019s because, in addition to everything else, Rust sees 1:40 a night on the penalty-kill.\u00a0<\/p>\n 14. Florida Panthers (22-17-3)\u00a0With Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk on the shelf, Sam Reinhart is seeing big minutes. In fact, only six forwards in the NHL are averaging more than Reinhart\u2019s 21:15.\u00a0<\/p>\n 15. Edmonton Oilers<\/a> (21-16-6)\u00a0As you\u2019d expect, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are first (McDavid, 22:42) and fourth (Draisaitl, 21:55) in ice time among forwards.\u00a0<\/p>\n 16. Washington Capitals (22-16-6)\u00a0No active forward in the league has more total career ice time than Alex Ovechkin. The only defencemen with more are Brent Burns and Drew Doughty.\u00a0<\/p>\n 17. San Jose Sharks (22-18-3)\u00a0Two first-year Sharks \u2014 defencemen Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg \u2014 lead the squad with the exact same amount of ice time, 21:37 a night.\u00a0<\/p>\n 18. Vegas Golden Knights (18-11-2)\u00a0Mitch Marner is down about one minute per night (20:12) from what he was seeing with the Leafs the past handful of seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n 19. Los Angeles Kings (18-14-10)\u00a0The 22:42 Drew Doughty is playing this year is the lowest average of his career and he still leads the Kings by more than two minutes per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n 20. Ottawa Senators<\/a> (20-17-5)\u00a0Jake Sanderson entered the league playing over 21 minutes per night as a rookie and he just keeps going up. This season, he\u2019s up to 25:19, more than all but four players in the NHL.\u00a0<\/p>\n 21. Boston Bruins (22-19-2)\u00a0David Pastrnak sees just over 20 minutes per game, which is about two-and-a-half minutes more than every other Bruins forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n 22. Utah Mammoth (21-20-3)\u00a0Mikhail Sergachev (24:21) plays about for minutes per night more than the next-busiest Mammoth.\u00a0<\/p>\n 23. Chicago Blackhawks (18-18-7)\u00a0Connor Bedard is on the precipice of returning to a Hawks team that has won four straight. The only forwards playing more at even strength than Bedard (17:51) are Connor McDavid (18:14) and Kirill Kaprizov (17:59).<\/p>\n 24. Columbus Blue Jackets (18-17-7)\u00a0Zach Werenski (22:11) and Ivan Provorov (21:29) play more at even strength than everyone in the NHL except Quinn Hughes (22:44).<\/p>\n 25. Nashville Predators (19-19-4)\u00a0Roman Josi leads the way at 23:07, but that\u2019s actually about two fewer minutes per game than he played last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n 26. New York Rangers (20-18-6)\u00a0Adam Fox and his 23:34 per night are headed back to injured reserve, which is awful news for a New York team that might soon become a seller.\u00a0<\/p>\n 27. New Jersey Devils (22-19-2)\u00a0The Hughes brothers are first and third in average ice for the Devils. Luke leads the way at 23:26 and Jack lands at 21:19, more than all but five forwards in the NHL.\u00a0<\/p>\n 28. Anaheim Ducks (21-19-3)\u00a0Jacob Trouba is playing over 22 minutes per game for Anaheim, the most ice time he\u2019s seen in a handful of seasons. He and team leader Jackson LaCombe (24:40) are the only Ducks seeing 20 minutes an outing.\u00a0<\/p>\n 29. St. Louis Blues (17-19-8)\u00a0Second-year Blue Philip Broberg paces the squad with 23:26 per night.\u00a0<\/p>\n