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Quinn Hughes

Vancouver Canucks Remove Quinn Hughes From COVID Protocol

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The Vancouver Canucks are getting a big boost to their lineup in the form of defenseman Quinn Hughes, who the team activated from COVID protocol today.

Hughes and his brother, Jack Hughes, found themselves on the league’s list after testing positive on arrival to their respective teams after the NHL All-Star break in Las Vegas. Because of the break, Hughes hasn’t suited up for the Canucks in two and a half weeks, missing the team’s first three games post-All-Star break. Vancouver’s last game was a 3-2 win this past Saturday against Toronto.

The 22-year-old defenseman has been Vancouver’s best player this season not named Thatcher Demko. With two goals and 32 assists this season, Hughes’ 34 points are best by far among Canucks defensemen and second on the entire team behind J.T. Miller’s 48 points. While Hughes isn’t exactly a defensive defenseman, he’s continually improving and developing in his own end, a trend that’s continued into this season.

Hughes will slide back into the Vancouver lineup tonight against the San Jose Sharks, likely alongside Luke Schenn considering usual partner Tucker Poolman remains out with an undisclosed injury.

Vancouver Canucks Place Quinn Hughes In COVID Protocol

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Another high-profile name is unavailable as teams return from the All-Star break, as the Vancouver Canucks have placed Quinn Hughes in the COVID protocol. Players were due for one more round of testing as they rejoined teammates regardless of symptoms, and now Hughes has joined the likes of his brother Jack Hughes, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Evgeni Malkin in the protocol.

General manager Jim Rutherford has already confirmed to Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV that Hughes will miss the next three games at least, and the team hopes to have him back on February 17 against the San Jose Sharks.

Despite the Canucks struggles for most of this season, Hughes is having another outstanding offensive campaign with 34 points in 45 games. Incredibly, he’s averaging more than 25 minutes a night for the club and even set a high of 31:07 in an overtime game against the Calgary Flames. The smooth-skating defenseman is the most important skater on the team and will be desperately missed over the next week.

Vancouver is back in action tomorrow night against the Arizona Coyotes as they try to climb their way back into the Pacific Division playoff picture. Currently sitting at 20-20-6, decisions will soon have to be made on what to do with several trade candidates.

Injury Notes: Boeser, Severson, Perron, Hoffman

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While Vancouver fans are relieved to see Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes back in action after they signed new contracts to stay with the team, they’ll have to wait a bit longer to see one of their young core members debut this season. Head coach Travis Green said Friday morning that it’s doubtful Brock Boeser plays in that night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Boeser has been on the shelf with an undisclosed injury since October 2. He was expected to only miss one week, but that timeline has passed and his status is now day-to-day. In his absence, it appears rookie Vasily Podkolzin will now get a look on the second line with Pettersson and J.T. Miller.

Some other injury notes from around the league:

  • New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff notes that defenseman Damon Severson is progressing and could play in New Jersey’s game next Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken. The Devils play their season opener tonight, meaning Severson might only be on the shelf for one game. Severson suffered an undisclosed injury on October 4 and has been listed as day-to-day since then.
  • The Montreal Canadiens could see a big free-agent addition make his debut soon. Head coach Dominique Ducharme says that winger Mike Hoffman could be ready for the team’s Tuesday or Thursday night games next week, but he’ll miss Saturday’s tilt against the New York Rangers. That’s about right on time for Hoffman, who was projected to miss four weeks with a lower-body injury suffered in late September.
  • With the St. Louis Blues’ season opener looming Saturday in Colorado, they could be without forward David Perron, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas. Perron was absent from the Blues’ practice today but was seen at the facility wearing street clothes. Head coach Craig Berube called it a “maintenance day” for Perron, who’s questionable for the game with an undisclosed injury.

Vancouver Canucks Agree To Terms On Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes Contracts

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October 3: Darren Dreger of TSN has reported that the final contract structure of both deals is as follows:

Pettersson
2021-22: $3MM salary + $1MM signing bonus
2022-23: $7.8MM salary
2023-24: $10.25MM salary

Hughes
2021-22: $4MM salary
2022-23: $6.5MM salary
2023-24: $8.6MM salary
2024-25: $9.5MM salary
2025-26: $10.25MM salary
2026-27: $8.25MM salary

October 1: TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Vancouver Canucks have agreed to terms on multi-year deals with restricted free agents Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. Pettersson’s deal is for three years at an average annual value of $7.35MM, while Hughes’ deal is for six years at $7.85MM. LeBrun says that the contracts themselves have yet to be finalized.

Sportsnet’s Satiar Shah was the first to report last night that Hughes’ deal would be six years in length, while The Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal reported a three-year deal for Pettersson.

Pettersson’s three-year commitment comes after scoring 153 points in just 165 games during his first three seasons in the league. The fifth-overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft continues to be regarded as a top-ten center in the league by some, but injury issues this season limited his production (and negotiation leverage) with 21 points in 26 games. Winner of the 2019 Calder Trophy, Pettersson’s contract is certainly of spectacular value to the Canucks at this time. The scoring and two-way game Pettersson brings to the table both make it seem like he’s earning about $1.5-$2MM less than he should.

Hughes, a year younger than his forward counterpart, has had a near equal amount of success and accolades throughout his young career. While the soon-to-be-22-year-old has only two full NHL seasons under his belt, his 53 points in 68 games (along with 21:53 average time on ice) in 2019-20 were good enough to place him second in Calder Trophy voting, even earning some Norris Trophy votes along the way. While his defensive game stumbled slightly this year, the point production kept up with 41 points in 56 games. A long-term commitment is key here for Vancouver, ensuring some cost certainty at a reasonable cap hit while he continues to develop.

Concerns were aplenty surrounding Vancouver’s ability to fit both Pettersson and Hughes under an $81.5MM salary cap this season, but with forward Micheal Ferland headed to long-term injury reserve, general manager Jim Benning appears to have successfully manipulated a tight financial situation. CapFriendly projects a current cap hit of $82.9MM with a full 23-man roster for the Canucks, exceeding the salary cap by much less than Ferland’s $3.5MM cap hit. While the specifics of how Vancouver can maximize cap relief haven’t been hammered out quite yet, they’ll at least rest now knowing they’ll be compliant for the start of the season.

These contracts set up an important season for this Canucks core, as they look to return to the playoffs after a surprise run in 2020. Pettersson will likely be reprising his role as the team’s first-line center, being flanked by J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. The secondary scoring’s been bolstered by the addition of Conor Garland, while young wingers Nils Hoglander and Vasily Podkolzin could make big impacts.

Hughes comes in as the undisputed number one defenseman on the team after Alexander Edler’s departure in free agency to the Los Angeles Kings. While the additions of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Tucker Poolman to the blueline have been controversial from an outside perspective, the team still hopes bounce-back campaigns are in order for both of them. Hughes’ ice time will undoubtedly increase from the 22:48 he played last year, becoming an increasingly important fixture within the team.

Canucks Nearing Contract For Quinn Hughes

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Shortly after multiple reports surfaced that Vancouver was making progress on deals for their remaining restricted free agents, the Canucks appear to be closing in on a new contract for defenseman Quinn Hughes.  Sportsnet’s Satiar Shah is among those reporting (Twitter link) that the blueliner is nearing a six-year contract with an AAV of around $7.75MM.  If the agreement winds up being made official at those terms, it will be the richest contract handed out by Canucks GM Jim Benning.

Hughes, the seventh-overall pick in 2018, has quickly emerged as one of the bigger offensive threats from the back end around the NHL.  He has recorded 94 points in 124 games over his two seasons, good for a tie with Colorado’s Cale Makar for fourth among blueliners league-wide.  Makar, by comparison, inked a six-year deal of his own this summer, with an AAV of $9MM.  His play in his own end is still more of a work in progress but at 21, there is still plenty of time for improvement on that front.

The contract would buy out Hughes’ five remaining RFA-eligible seasons plus his first year of UFA eligibility so Vancouver doesn’t gain a lot of team control with this contract but ensures that their biggest offensive threat defensively will be ready to go for the start of the season where he will battle with newcomer Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the top spot on the left side of Vancouver’s defense.  Worth noting is that only the final year of his contract will be eligible for trade protection because it is the only UFA year.

With Vancouver having a little under $14MM in cap room per CapFriendly (before accounting for Micheal Ferland who is likely LTIR-bound again), it will likely push them in the direction of a bridge contract for RFA forward Elias Pettersson.  To that end, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that a three-year deal worth around $7.7MM could be on the table.  With both players being represented by CAA Sports, the deals have basically been worked on together and it wouldn’t be surprising if an announcement from the team will come when both players have officially agreed to terms.  That won’t happen tonight, reports Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre (Twitter link).

Latest On Vancouver’s Restricted Free Agents

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There are two notable absentees from Vancouver’s training camp in defenseman Quinn Hughes and forward Elias Pettersson who remain unsigned.  However, it appears contract talks between the Canucks and their representatives at CAA are starting to improve as Thomas Drance of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that some progress was made on both fronts today while Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that Hughes’ deal is closer to be being completed out of the two though they are being done together.  In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment (video link), TSN’s Darren Dreger mentions that the state of discussions could be classified as “grinding” so there is clearly some work still to be done.

While the Canucks would undoubtedly like to get long-term deals done with both players, they may not have the cap space to do so and keep wiggle room for in-season movement – roughly $17MM per CapFriendly if Micheal Ferland returns to LTIR.  Hughes would likely be seeking a deal similar to Cale Makar’s in Colorado ($9MM AAV for six years) while Pettersson’s comparables on a long-term pact could push him over the $9MM mark as well.

One potential factor here is the status of defenseman Travis Hamonic who remains unvaccinated with the deadline to opt out of the season coming up on Friday.  If that happens, he would come off the salary cap some of his $3MM AAV could be redirected towards Hughes and Pettersson although some would need to be earmarked to a replacement blueliner as well.

At the very least, it appears as if discussions are heading in the right direction.  And until Hamonic’s situation is finalized on Friday, they may have to wait a little longer until they officially know how much they’ll have available to spend on their young stars.

Remaining RFAs Training Together As Season Approaches

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If you navigate to the restricted free agent page on CapFriendly, only five names remain unsigned for the upcoming season. Two of them are New York Islanders players–Anatoly Golyshev and Kieffer Bellows–who are both already in training camp even though the team has not officially announced new contracts. The other three, Elias Pettersson, Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes, are having their own kind of training camp in Michigan. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the three are now skating together as they continue to wait out their contract negotiations.

Pettersson joined Hughes there as the Vancouver Canucks deal directly with representative Pat Brisson on new deals for the young stars. As recently as Tuesday, the super-agent told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV that he and the club were speaking every other day, working to get deals done as soon as possible. But it’s now a couple of days into camp and the two most important players on the Vancouver roster are not even in the country.

In Ottawa, things are moving forward without Tkachuk, the team’s best forward and likely their next captain. GM Pierre Dorion once again told reporters including Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet that the negotiations were “productive and positive,” but the 22-year-old is now missing from camp in an all-important year for the Senators. The team is looking to turn the corner on their rebuild and Tkachuk is the player that needs to lead them there.

A week ago, Justin Bourne of Sportsnet wrote a column detailing his viewpoint on missing the start of training camp. He makes the case that the early part of the season is the most crucial, because of the trust it builds between the coaching staff and roster. While neither Vancouver nor Ottawa have rookie head coaches trying to get the respect of the room, they are both teams that are by no means guaranteed a playoff spot or even a competitive season. Any disruption to the start of the year could cascade throughout the entire schedule.

For now though, all the players can do is train on their own and wait for a resolution. Thomas Drance of The Athletic writes that it will have to be Pettersson that signs before Hughes, because of the latter’s status as a 10.2(c) RFA that cannot be signed to an offer sheet. If they signed them in the reverse, it would open a window for another team to swoop in and offer something to Pettersson that would be difficult to match under the Canucks’ current cap situation.

At this point, there are no more comparables to be signed, as these are the three pillars left standing. The only real pressure point coming now is the start of the regular season, certainly not something either side wants to wait for.

West Notes: Parayko, Ennis, Canucks

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Blues defenseman Colton Parayko missed 21 games last season due to a lingering back issue which likely kept the price tag lower on the eight-year, $52MM extension he just signed.  Speaking with reporters, including Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the veteran indicated that his back has fully recovered but the treatment to get to that point has been minimal.  Instead of surgery or extensive rehab, Parayko has largely just rested to heal the injury, something that simply wasn’t an option during the season when he tried to play through it.  Expectations will be much higher for him heading into this coming season with that extension now in place and with the back injury behind him, he should be able to have a bigger impact offensively after recording just 12 points in 32 contests.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Veteran forward Tyler Ennis is among those still sitting in the UFA pool but Postmedia’s Jim Matheson reports that there are some teams that have shown tentative interest along the lines of circling back to him as a fallback plan. He lists the Canucks as one of the teams that may have shown interest so far.  The 31-year-old had a limited role with Edmonton last season, notching just nine points in 30 games while being a regular scratch.  Accordingly, he’s someone that may have to settle for a PTO at this point whether that’s with Vancouver or someone else.
  • With one successful offer sheet now being completed, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in the latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the Canucks have been the team believed to be the most concerned about an offer sheet this summer. Of their two remaining RFAs, only center Elias Pettersson is eligible to receive one as defenseman Quinn Hughes falls under the 10.2c classification.  Friedman adds that talks are expected to pick up with both unsigned players after there were basically no discussions for all of August.

West Notes: Canucks, Thomas, Skinner

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There’s an expectation that one of Canucks RFAs Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes will have to take a short-term contract this summer in order for Vancouver to be cap-compliant for next season.  Speaking with Vancouver Hockey Now’s Rob Simpson, Pat Brisson, the agent for both youngsters, indicated that there’s no indication yet as to which player could wind up with which type of contract.  Simpson suggests that Pettersson, who has offer sheet eligibility, could be the likelier player to sign first since Hughes doesn’t have that right although the odds of the center receiving an offer sheet worth signing at this stage is highly unlikely.  No discussions are expected over the coming days with GM Jim Benning taking a quick summer break before training camp, something many general managers around the league are likely doing.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Blues RFA forward Robert Thomas is believed to be seeking a higher AAV than the $2.8MM that Jordan Kyrou received earlier this season, reports Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription link). The 22-year-old is coming off a tough injury-riddled season that saw him post just a dozen points in 33 games but with 75 points in 136 contests over his first two seasons, he has enough of a track record to try to get that on a bridge deal.  Louis doesn’t have that much cap space but with Oskar Sundqvist headed for LTIR to start the season, that would give them enough of a buffer to get Thomas under contract although they’d need to get cap-compliant by the time Sundqvist returns.
  • Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner has been Edmonton’s top goalie prospect basically since they drafted him back in the third round in 2017. However, as Postmedia’s David Staples notes, they’ve never really shown much confidence in him, evidenced by the acquisition of veterans in recent years including Alex Stalock who presently sits ahead of him for the third spot on the depth chart.  With some of their other prospects now in the minor pros (Ilya Konovalov and Olivier Rodrigue), time is running out for Skinner to establish himself as a viable option for Edmonton.  If that doesn’t happen soon, it’s possible that he’ll become a trade candidate if one of those other prospects is ready for a bigger role in Bakersfield.

Pacific Notes: Canucks, Koekkoek, Edler

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While many teams have dealt with most of their restricted free agents already, that can’t be said for Vancouver who still has center Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes among their unsigned youngsters.  Speaking with Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston, Pat Brisson – who represents both players – noted that there’s no holdup in talks between him and the Canucks.  Part of the delay is that both short-term and long-term deals are being pondered for both players although it’s unlikely they will be able to afford to give each of them a contract that would buy out some UFA eligibility.  It wouldn’t be surprising if talks pick up once they get a deal done with RFA center Jason Dickinson whose arbitration hearing is set for Friday.  Once that’s in place, they’ll have a better idea of how much they’ll be able to spend on their two young stars.

More from the Pacific:

  • David Staples of the Edmonton Journal examined the recent two-year deal that the Oilers handed to defenseman Slater Koekkoek. While his numbers were underwhelming last season – one goal in 18 games while averaging just 13:10 per contest – he was better than several Edmonton blueliners in terms of frequency of allowing scoring chances.  Koekkoek’s numbers usually wouldn’t be good enough to yield a multi-year contract so there’s a good chance that the team was intrigued by that particular stat as well.
  • Defenseman Alex Edler told Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider that part of the reason that he signed with the Kings was how much interest they showed in him early along with the fit he’d have with the team. He added that he did field interest from other teams which likely helped push his price tag up to $3.5MM for next season, a somewhat high price tag for a player who had just eight assists in 52 games while logging his lowest ice time since 2007-08.  The 35-year-old should have a prominent role with Los Angeles next season and could be used in a shutdown capacity similar to the role he had at times in Vancouver.

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