Assessing The Canucks’ Direction
Reports surfaced earlier this month that the Canucks had re-engaged in contract talks with pending free-agent forward Kiefer Sherwood and were discussing a potential five- or six-year deal worth over $4MM per season. It’s hard to say whether the reports had merit, or whether the Canucks were serious about retaining Sherwood – or merely posturing to get a better trade return before the trade deadline.
Regardless of their true intentions, the Canucks’ direction is tough to figure out. They currently sit last in the NHL standings and, since New Year’s Day, are 0-7-2 and have been outscored 40-14. They don’t appear close to a winning run, yet there is little talk of a sell-off or a pivot into a rebuild. Their fans certainly like to talk on social media about embracing the tank, and the Canucks are reportedly willing to listen to offers for Elias Pettersson.
The truth about Vancouver is that it’s been a mess, off and on, for the better part of the last 10 to 15 years, from the top of the organization down to the players. There have been highs and moments of hope when it looked like the team was on the cusp of greatness, but those highs have been short-lived, followed by rapid declines.
The last two years are a clear example: the Canucks went from a team that was a win away from the Western Conference Final to one that missed the playoffs last season and appears destined to do the same this year. Those falls aren’t all that common (although the Rangers are living through a familiar descent) and are generally the result of self-inflicted missteps or a run of terrible luck.
In Vancouver’s case, it appears to be a mix of both, but there is no doubt that the J.T. Miller/Pettersson rift did irreparable damage that could have long-standing effects on Vancouver’s locker room.
Miller’s departure should have signaled the Canucks’ direction. Still, a quick trade for defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor then implied that Vancouver intended to compete for a playoff spot last season, and the subsequent re-signing of both players certainly reinforced that notion.
Internal and external pressures aside, the trade to bring in Pettersson and O’Connor added to the Canucks’ depth, and they shed some bad contracts (Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais) in the deal with Pittsburgh. But the trades showed a lack of direction for Vancouver, and that carried into last year’s trade deadline as well as the summer, when the Canucks showed a lack of forward thinking. All of that leads us to this season, where Vancouver has spun its wheels despite rostering an ageing, expensive core.
The Miller trade to the Rangers had to happen, and while the return wasn’t great, it wasn’t awful either, as Miller has struggled to regain his form in the Big Apple. But the moves that followed the trade felt reactionary and forced, and ultimately proved in vain.
Pettersson was a top-pairing defender in Pittsburgh, but this season with the Canucks has been perhaps the worst of his career. The 29-year-old looks to be a shell of his former self and, like many players in Vancouver, has been terrible.
O’Connor has been fine in Vancouver, tallying 10 goals and seven assists in 47 games thus far while continuing to use his speed and size to be disruptive on the forecheck. That move, while tainted by Pettersson’s play this year, made sense at the time, but as the Canucks approached the trade deadline, some of management’s decision-making left a lot to be desired.
There was a moment after the Miller trade when the Canucks could have pivoted to a quick retool that might have been tough to stomach for the rest of last year and this season, but it would likely have yielded results next season. Instead, the Canucks did what they did, extended both Pettersson and O’Connor, and inked backup goaltender Kevin Lankinen to a deal that pays him $4.5MM per season for five years. All of it was reactionary, in the hope of getting the Canucks into the postseason last year. They didn’t.
The Canucks also tried to trade Brock Boeser last year at the deadline, but weren’t able to come to terms on a deal. It seemed all but certain he would bolt elsewhere in free agency last summer, but there he was on July 1, surprisingly signing a seven-year agreement with Vancouver that appears set to age like milk.
The Canucks added to their forward depth in another move, acquiring Evander Kane via trade from Edmonton. It was an acceptable deal in a vacuum; however, given Vancouver’s overall roster construction, it was a head-scratcher, as the Canucks used much of their cap space to fix the wing while watching their already thin center position get worse when Pius Suter departed in free agency.
Vancouver spent the rest of the summer making small roster changes in hopes that the core would find its mojo again. Still, a few months into the season, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen, which sparked trade rumours for their star defenseman, Quinn Hughes, whom they eventually dealt to Minnesota towards the end of 2025. The Hughes deal was actually a great haul for Vancouver given the circumstances, but it has officially put them into a hybrid retool that probably should’ve happened a year ago.
Hindsight is 20/20, but had Vancouver pivoted in early 2025 after trading Miller, they might have avoided some of the mistakes they’ve made over the past year, which have effectively set them back a few years. Instead, Vancouver is locked into long-term deals with underperforming forwards, a talented yet expensive goalie tandem that has injury and inconsistency issues, and a defense core that is now average at best.
Sure, they do have some nice young players who will likely become NHLers, but they will be surrounded by an old, pricey core unless the Canucks can start moving out from under some of the contracts they’ve locked in. No one is taking Boeser’s deal this year; the same could probably be said for Elias Pettersson’s.
But Vancouver could move their pending UFAs before the trade deadline and have nearly $17MM in cap space next summer to sign just two roster players (as per PuckPedia). That type of wiggle room could allow for additions before next season, but it’s not clear whether Vancouver should do that in the midst of what appears to be either a retool or a rebuild.
Patience might be the best thing for the president of hockey ops, Jim Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin to exercise, but given their track records, that has not been their strong suit, and it is a big part of the reason the Canucks find themselves where they are.
Quinn Hughes Wanted To Go To Red Wings
In yesterday’s iteration of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman claims that defenseman Quinn Hughes wanted to go to the Detroit Red Wings when the Vancouver Canucks were entertaining trade offers. However, Friedman indicated that General Manager Steve Yzerman was unwilling to pay the lofty price if an extension wasn’t guaranteed.
Hughes was eventually traded to the Minnesota Wild for Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round pick. Detroit was known to be one of the speculative suitors at the time. However, many pundits believed that defenseman Simon Edvinsson was the major sticking point in negotiations, as being a player the Red Wings were unwilling to part with. Yesterday’s report from Friedman certainly alters that narrative.
Additionally, given that he’s not scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency until after the 2026-27 season, Hughes isn’t eligible to sign an extension until July 1st, 2026. Friedman’s report indicates that Yzerman was hoping for a verbal commitment from Hughes and his agent, Pat Brisson, that the former Norris Trophy winner would sign a long-term contract with Detroit. Although Hughes can’t sign an extension until the upcoming summer, he’s able to begin negotiating one whenever he pleases.
While it ultimately didn’t work out with Detroit on the trade front, they will certainly be a team to look out for if Hughes reaches free agency in 2027. However, that’s a big if.
There’s no doubting the connection. Hughes played for four years in southeast Michigan with the United States National Team Development Program before attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for two years. Still, he’s had a seamless transition to the Wild organization, scoring one goal and 16 points in 15 games while averaging nearly 28 minutes of ice time per game.
It appears that the lack of extension could be a major sticking point for Yzerman leading up to the trade deadline. In the same episode on Monday, Friedman discussed the recent speculation connecting the Red Wings to Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson, noting that Detroit would likely avoid him if he is not willing to commit long-term.
Regardless, it’ll be a breath of fresh air to a Red Wings fan base that has been starving for a big-time addition by Yzerman, particularly on defense. The team is on pace to get over the playoff hurdle, sitting in first place in the highly competitive Atlantic Division with a 28-15-4 record. However, it’s important to remember that Detroit has played the most games of any team in the division.
The Red Wings should be comfortable with their top pairing. The combination of Edvinsson and Moritz Seider is one of the league’s best at even strength, averaging a 55.2% xGoals%. However, there’s a stark drop-off in performance from the second pairing. Veteran Ben Chiarot and rookie Axel Sandin Pellikka have combined for a 45.8% mark, which ranks 81st out of the 99 defensive pairings that have played in 200 or more minutes together.
If Detroit can remain healthy after the Olympic break, all rumors suggest a significant addition to their defense. However, regarding the rental market, the quality of potential trade candidates is thin. Given the desire to stay away from a player who isn’t willing to stay with the team long-term, the Red Wings could look to the market for defensemen signed beyond this season.
What Will Quinn Hughes’ Next Contract Look Like?
Now that the dust has settled on the Quinn Hughes trade to the Minnesota Wild and the superstar defenseman has settled into the Twin Cities, it’s fair to speculate about his future and whether it will include the Wild. Hughes is a little over 18 months away from becoming an unrestricted free agent. At a time when many superstars are taking the guaranteed money and staying put, it will be interesting to see whether he forgoes the free market for stability with the Wild. Hughes’ free agency case could be a landmark one, with so few players going to UFA and a salary cap soaring.
While the 27-year-old is a UFA on July 1, 2027, he can sign an extension in about six months. With the new CBA rules that cap the term at seven years instead of the previous eight, it could impact the term that Hughes will take. Does he lock in for the seven years early with his current team – or still eight if he signs before Sep. 15 – or will the allure of going to market convince him to accept a six-year term? The money will be there for Hughes either way, as will the term, but whether he wants to leave money on the table will be up to him.
In early October, Matt Sekeres and Blake Price discussed with Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek the potential for Hughes to become the NHL’s first $20MM player. Marek didn’t outright say he believed Hughes could become that player. Still, he did discuss the cascading effect of other players around the NHL coming to terms on lucrative deals, which will no doubt impact Hughes’ negotiations.
Many wondered if Connor McDavid could become the NHL’s first $20MM man, but he punted that opportunity and opted to remain in Edmonton at his current rate of $12.5MM. Hughes could make a similar move to McDavid and take a short-term deal at a discounted rate, but given that he was just traded, one has to think he won’t feel the same loyalty to the Wild that McDavid showed to the Oilers. Another wrinkle for Minnesota in getting Hughes to sign for a discount is that the Wild has already demonstrated they will pay a superstar’s market value to retain them, as they did with Kirill Kaprizov when they signed him to his massive record-setting extension earlier this year.
Given that the cascading effect is in play, there’s no greater impact than looking over at a talented teammate who got every cent they wanted and believing you should get it too. No one knows whether Hughes feels that way except himself, but with the allure of the free market and the temptation of playing with his brothers on a talented team in New Jersey, it’s hard to believe Hughes is going to leave money on the table to sign with the Wild.
That’s what makes the possibility of Hughes hitting a $20MM AAV all the more likely. The Wild gave up a ton to get the defenseman and aren’t going to let him walk for nothing. So, they have one of two choices: pay him what he wants or trade him after this season.
But who are Hughes’s comparables, and what kind of money is realistic on a long-term contract? The best comparable to Hughes is fellow defenseman Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche. Hughes and Makar have flipped the Norris Trophy in recent seasons as the league’s top defenseman. At this point, Makar is a step or two ahead of Hughes in terms of numbers and hardware. Makar has 470 points in 431 games, along with two Norris Trophies and a Calder Trophy, while Hughes has a single Norris Trophy and 435 points in 464 games. This also doesn’t factor in Makar’s Stanley Cup ring or his 4 Nations win this past year. Both men are slated to become free agents at the same time, which should make the parallel negotiations fascinating to watch. Outside of Makar and Hughes, there really is no comparable from a contract standpoint.
Thomas Harley of the Dallas Stars is a possibility after signing a long-term extension two months ago. Still, he isn’t nearly the contributor Hughes is and was only a restricted free agent next summer. Harley does have youth on his side, as he is just 24, but he doesn’t have a resume close to Hughes’ and isn’t in the same stratosphere offensively with just 117 points in 223 career NHL games. Harley is still a terrific player, but his $10.587MM cap hit isn’t remotely close to the number Hughes should command.
Odds are, Makar will ink his deal first, as he is pretty comfortable in Colorado and they have the cap space to make him a top offer, which should eclipse Kaprizov’s $17MM AAV if he goes for full value. As Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discussed on DFO Live back in October, the escalating cap is going to allow guys like Makar to call their shots on their next deals. Still, there is no way to gauge whether money will be the driving force for Makar, or for Hughes, for that matter.
While Makar and Hughes will be linked by their free agency timelines and play, the similarities taper off after that. Hughes has family dynamics at play and no personal connection to his team yet. Those dynamics will be primary considerations for both players and could change the money they are ultimately willing to play for. Makar has been part of a winning environment for quite some time, while Hughes has two brothers playing on the same team and a potential path to join them in New Jersey. Makar has better career numbers than Hughes, but as we saw with Connor McDavid, loyalty, fit, family, and friendship can shave millions off a player’s cap hit. In the case of Hughes and Makar, time will tell if that happens.
Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-Imagn Images.
Morning Notes: Hughes, Pitlick, Jiricek, Johansson
More information rolls in regarding the Vancouver Canucks’ trade negotiations involving defenseman Quinn Hughes. We now know that several teams were scared of parting with significant value due to the perception that Hughes is far from a guarantee to sign a long-term extension.
According to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, Hughes is keeping an “open mind” when it comes to re-upping with Minnesota on July 1st, 2026. Russo noted that Hughes believes the Wild have “an amazing core.” He also shared that Hughes is happy with how close the team is to Michigan, and for being the organization that actually stepped up to get him, regardless of his perceived hesitancy to sign an extension.
Now, unlike other teams, the Wild have more than six months to convince Hughes to sign immediately when eligible, and even longer if both sides are comfortable with him entering the 2026-27 season as a pending unrestricted free agent. They got off to a good start last night, beating the Boston Bruins by four goals, with Hughes scoring his first goal with the team in the third period.
Additional morning notes:
- Likely because they’ve added forward Samuel Poulin to their AHL roster, the Bakersfield Condors connected with the Rockford IceHogs on an AHL trade yesterday. According to an announcement from Rockford, the Condors have traded forward Rem Pitlick to the IceHogs for defenseman Tyson Feist. Rem, cousin of Tyler Pitlick, is a veteran of 132 NHL contests, scoring 21 goals and 54 points. Meanwhile, Feist has only played in the ECHL this season, scoring one goal and seven points in 14 games for the Indy Fuel.
- Back in Minnesota, there were a few negatives that came from last night’s contest. Both defenseman David Jiříček and forward Marcus Johansson left yesterday’s game with lower-body injuries. According to Joe Smith of The Athletic, the Wild didn’t offer any updates for either player during the post-game media availability. Minnesota doesn’t play again until tomorrow, so more information should be provided before then.
Wild Eager To Integrate Quinn Hughes
As the dust begins to settle from Friday’s blockbuster trade which sent Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes to Minnesota in exchange for a haul including Zeev Buium and Marco Rossi, the next step is the Wild’s need to integrate their new superstar. Michael Russo of The Athletic wrote earlier today that while the team has rolled the dice with no guarantees, they are confident. Tonight’s electric home debut, a convincing win over Boston, is step one in what will be Minnesota’s ultimate goal to make Hughes happy in his new home, and keep him for the long haul.
The news that Hughes was headed to Minnesota came as a shock to many, as they had not been thought of as a top suitor. However, as mentioned by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on yesterday’s edition of Saturday Headlines (link), several teams were “scared off” by Hughes’ lack of long-term commitment. Friedman says that only Minnesota and New Jersey remained unfazed.
New Jersey was naturally aggressive in their pursuit, as it has long been thought that Quinn would like to join his brothers Jack and Luke to form a one-of-a-kind trio in Newark. However, it has become apparent that salaries were unable to work out. The Devils had several older, higher dollar candidates which could have been moved to open up space, but with ample full or modified no trade clauses throughout, such a move would be difficult. Even if a player such as Ondřej Palát or Brenden Dillon would be willing to move, Vancouver, in their current state as a franchise, would have no real use for them. GM Tom Fitzgerald’s loyalty to his veterans seems to have seriously limited his options, when an unforgettable trade opportunity presented itself.
Minnesota GM Bill Guerin swooped in aggressively, and as noted by Russo, he wasted no time. The offer of Rossi, Buium, Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round pick was the first and only one made.
While losing a 26-year-old franchise level player has massive implications for Vancouver, they were able to bring in a young and highly capable second line center, a rookie defenseman with high end potential to fill a Hughes-type role eventually, along with other assets. Such a return is an ideal scenario, as it came with no “baggage” of sorts, unlike what they would have likely received from New Jersey. Sure enough, much like Hughes, Buium also scored in his Canucks debut tonight, in a two-point effort, as Vancouver ironically defeated their trade suitors, the Devils. The 20-year-old rookie played in a second-pair deployment alongside veteran Tyler Myers, a favorable scenario as the team looks to shelter Buium early on.
Meanwhile, the window for Minnesota is as open as ever. After locking up Kirill Kaprizov, Guerin has assembled a seriously formidable group. The loss of Rossi leaves a hole down the middle, but Ryan Hartman, 31, may have an opportunity to return to a top six level offensively. For now, he has 12 points in 26 games, remaining a solid player on both ends, but such is a far cry from his 34 goal output in 2021-22. Even if not, the Wild could pursue a 2C on the trade market, perhaps the affordable contract of Ryan O’Reilly, if they are able to pry the veteran from their divisional rivals in Nashville.
Hughes’ debut tonight went as well as could have been expected. He led all Minnesota defenders with 26:55 of ice time, and scored a goal. His Wild tenure is just in infant stages, but after the game, Hughes said he is “very open minded” to staying long term in Minnesota, as shared by Joe Smith of The Athletic. Guerin’s aggressiveness also made an impression, as Hughes mentioned his respect for the esteemed GM for going out to get him in such a big trade package.
Although they are tired of hearing it, the Wild have not won a playoff round in a decade. The fan base has patiently waited for another deep push, which has not happened since their Cinderella run in 2003. With Hughes in the fold, 2026 could be a year to remember for Minnesota. Thankfully, as he is signed through next season, the contract status of their franchise defenseman won’t yet be a major distraction, but for now, the Wild must make him happy and set the stage for a long future together.
Latest On Quinn Hughes Trade Aftermath
As the dust begins to settle from Friday’s Quinn Hughes trade, an era-defining transaction for two NHL franchises, more and more information is being reported regarding the circumstances that led up to the deal.
Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin addressed the media yesterday regarding the trade, and revealed a few things about how it all came together. He said that he took a direct, aggressive approach in negotiations with the Canucks, stating “we had to go to them with something real, right away, to tell them that we’re serious,” and adding that the eventual package the Wild sent to the Canucks was the first offer Guerin made.
That bit of information sheds some light on the Wild’s overall strategy regarding their path to contention. Guerin’s willingness to part with key future pieces such as Zeev Buium to acquire Hughes, who has less than two years of team control remaining, indicates that the club sees itself as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender within that period.
Of course, the simple fact that they acquired Hughes sends that signal as well, but it’s also notable that the Wild did not hesitate to include players such as Buium in their initial trade offer to the Canucks.
From the Canucks’ perspective, it’s easy to see why the Wild were able to push through the other bidders for Hughes’ services and get a deal done.
It’s been reported (by The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun) that other clubs, such as the Philadelphia Flyers, didn’t feel willing to surrender the caliber of assets the Wild were willing to part with, like a high-upside young player who is either NHL-ready or nearly NHL ready. The Wild were in a unique position where they were able to offer key players who brought a rare combination of youth, upside, NHL-readiness, and positional value.
Buium is a supremely intelligent defenseman who could very well quarterback the Canucks’ top power play unit in short order. Marco Rossi is a center who has a 60-point season on his record and hasn’t turned 25 yet. In a trade market where it’s extremely difficult to acquire centers, let alone young, productive ones, that’s a major piece. And then the willingness to add a player like Liam Ohgren into the deal, someone who has preexisting chemistry with key Canucks youngster Jonathan Lekkerimaki, is something that likely pushed the Wild even further in the Canucks’ eyes.
It’s extraordinarily difficult to “win” a trade where your franchise is parting with a player of Hughes’ caliber. The Wild’s initial offer was strong enough that it, at the very least, gave the Canucks a fighting chance given the key factor of Hughes’ limited team control.
LeBrun also revealed a few other teams that were involved in the race to acquire Hughes. He reported that the New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Rangers “made legitimate offers” for Hughes, while the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes “showed interest.”
LeBrun also added that “despite rumors to the contrary,” the Washington Capitals “were never real players” to acquire Hughes and cited the organization’s unwillingness to part with a player such as Cole Hutson as a key reason for their reluctance. Hutson is the younger brother of 2024-25 Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson and has 20 points in 17 games this season at Boston University.
Looking at the deal from a different angle, Canucks head coach Adam Foote also spoke to the media yesterday and addressed an aspect of Hughes’ departure that could be key to the Canucks’ off-ice player dynamics. Per The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, Foote said that he hasn’t had an opportunity to speak with the club’s senior hockey operations leaders about naming a new captain, but added that defenseman Filip Hronek will be an alternate captain in the meantime.
The Canucks’ current alternate captains, besides Hronek, are Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, and Tyler Myers. The fact that Myers is now 35 and has just one year remaining beyond this one on his contract lowers the odds that he’d be a long-term solution as a captain, but both Boeser and Pettersson are in their late-twenties and under contract through 2031-32, making them more logical candidates for such a role, though it is also possible that the next Canucks captain is not currently on their roster.
Photos courtesy of Nick Wosika-Imagn Images
Poll: Which Team Won The Quinn Hughes Trade?
Last night, the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks got together on the biggest trade of the season and of recent memory. Rivaled only by the three-way trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes and Martin Necas to the Colorado Avalanche, the Canucks moved former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Quinn Hughes to the ‘State of Hockey’.
It’s easy to assess what the Wild gained in this trade. They’ve landed arguably one of the top three defensemen in the NHL, rivaled only by Avalanche Cale Makar and Blue Jacket Zach Werenski.
Outside of some mild injury concerns, Hughes has been dominant on a largely non-competitive team. Despite putting up some solid production through his first three seasons, he’s been dominant for the last five, scoring 50 goals and 335 points in 330 games while averaging 25:59 of ice time per night.
Unfortunately, and likely one of the motivating factors for moving on in Hughes’ eyes — the Canucks have only qualified for the playoffs twice throughout his career, with things again looking bleak this season. Although they aren’t considered in the same echelon as the Avalanche or Dallas Stars, potentially not even after this trade, the Wild have only missed the playoffs twice throughout Hughes’ career.
Still, as mentioned, Minnesota is lining up to play one of Colorado or Dallas in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs if they don’t fall to a wild-card spot, which may be more advantageous to them. Even though they’ve made the postseason more often than not over the last decade, the Wild haven’t reached the second round since the 2015 postseason. Time will tell if adding a player of Hughes’ caliber will be the answer to getting them over the hump.
For Vancouver, the Canucks effectively added four first-round picks for their franchise player. Marco Rossi, 24, is the oldest of the group, having been selected with the 9th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Liam Ohgren, 21, and Zeev Buium, 20, were drafted in the first round of the 2022 and 2024 NHL Drafts, respectively.
Rossi will immediately become the Canucks second-line center and will likely push Filip Chytil to a third-line role once he returns from injury. Over the last two years, Rossi has scored 28 goals and 73 points in 99 games while averaging a 47.1% success rate in the dot.
Still, Rossi isn’t far removed from a more-than-disappointing playoff performance last season. Scoring two goals and three points in six games, the Wild infamously demoted Rossi to the team’s fourth line as early as Game 2 in the team’s matchup last spring against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Meanwhile, Buium, the former National Champion with the University of Denver Pioneers, is enjoying a solid rookie campaign. Before the trade to Vancouver, Buium had scored three goals and 14 points in 31 games, averaging 18:28 of ice time per night. Despite starting 51.5% of his shifts in the offensive zone, he had averaged a 91.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength. He doesn’t project to have a similar offensive ceiling as Hughes, though he may end up being somewhat better defensively.
Lastly, Ohgren has yet to break out in any meaningful way with the Wild and may benefit from more ice time in Vancouver. Largely limited to a bottom-six role, the Swede has tallied two goals and five points in 42 games over the past two years, averaging 10:26 of ice time. However, if his AHL performance is any indication of things to come, the young center has tallied 22 goals and 42 points in his last 50 games with the struggling Iowa Wild.
Many of the grades of this trade will hinge on a few things. If Hughes signs a long-term extension with Minnesota this summer, or helps the team win its first Stanley Cup in franchise history, it will make the return haul a far easier pill to swallow. For Vancouver, if Hughes was unwilling to resign and doesn’t with Minnesota either, the trade will make a ton of sense in the long term, especially if each player reaches their respective ceiling.
Now it’s time for you to vote — who do you think came out on top?
Mobile users click here to vote.
Wild Acquire Quinn Hughes
The Quinn Hughes trade rumor mill has come to an end. The Wild have acquired the blueliner from the Canucks in exchange for center Marco Rossi, defenseman Zeev Buium, winger Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round pick. Both teams have announced the swap.
Dating back to the offseason, there had been speculation that a trade involving Hughes could happen at some point. The blueliner had talked about liking the idea of one day playing with his brothers, something Canucks president Jim Rutherford also referenced. To that end, the Devils were believed to have had discussions about the idea of making a move for him with those discussions resurfacing this week amid talks with several other suitors.
Minnesota was not among those known suitors but they have won the sweepstakes for Hughes, making a significant addition to their back end. The 26-year-old has been one of the top-scoring defensemen in the NHL in recent years and is only two seasons removed from winning the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top blueliner while finishing third in voting for the award last season.
This season, Hughes has played in 26 games with Vancouver, picking up two goals and 21 assists while logging a career-high 27:26 of ice time per night. For his career, he checks in at just below the point-per-game mark with 61 goals and 371 helpers in 459 regular season games. He has produced at a similar rate in the postseason, notching two goals and 24 assists in 30 playoff contests from the Canucks’ playoff appearances in 2020 and 2024.
It’s an understatement to say that adding Hughes will be a significant addition to Minnesota’s back end. The team has leaned heavily on Brock Faber in the early going this season with veterans Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon also logging over 20 minutes a night. That’s a solid foundation but a group that was lacking a legitimate number one defender. That’s now no longer the case with Hughes sliding in as that missing piece with Jacob Middleton (when healthy) also serving as a top-four-caliber piece.
Hughes has two seasons remaining on his contract with a team-friendly $7.85MM AAV. It’s plausible that he could double that when his contract expires and have a chance to be the highest-paid defenseman in the NHL. Interestingly enough, he’s going to a team that employs the highest-paid player in NHL history as of next season in winger Kirill Kaprizov.
Clearly, GM Bill Guerin, who is also the GM for Team USA at the upcoming Olympics, feels he will be able to make a strong pitch for Hughes to stick around for the long haul, even if it requires another record-setting contract to do so. Hughes will be eligible to sign a contract extension as of July 1st although Minnesota has received no assurances that he’ll do so, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo (Twitter link). Notably, with new CBA restrictions on term and bonus structure kicking in next September, Minnesota will have about a 10-week window to try to lock Hughes up to an eight-year extension before the maximum length of a deal drops to seven seasons.
The Wild currently sit in third place in a hotly contested Central Division. They’re behind Colorado and Dallas, the top two teams in the NHL by a considerable margin while Winnipeg, who won the Presidents’ Trophy last season, is also in their division as well, though languishing as of late. With this move, an already difficult division gets a lot more difficult but the opportunity to add an elite defender to his group is an opportunity that Guerin clearly couldn’t pass up.
As for Vancouver, this is a situation they clearly didn’t want to be in on multiple fronts. For starters, the recent trade speculation was hardly ideal and it was recently acknowledged that it was a discussion point in the dressing room. Meanwhile, their preference certainly would have been to try to lock him up long-term but TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that they’ve known for a while that he wouldn’t do so. However, considering that the Canucks sit dead last in the NHL standings with just 25 points in 31 games and are coming off missing the playoffs last season, a retool of some sorts was going to be on the horizon. Taking a step back would have lowered the chances of Hughes re-signing while moving him allowed for the potential to kick-start that roster restructuring.
There’s a strong case to make that Rutherford and GM Patrik Allvin have accomplished that with this trade. For starters, they bring in a highly-touted young defender in Buium who they hope can be an impact piece right away, particularly on the offensive front.
The 20-year-old was the 12th overall pick by Minnesota not even a year and a half ago. He signed his entry-level contract at the end of his college season back in April and made his NHL debut in the playoffs, picking up an assist in four games. Buium has been a regular on the back end for the Wild this year, playing in 31 games where he has put up three goals and 11 assists in 18:28 of playing time per game. He should have a chance to play a little higher on the depth chart with the Canucks with a regular spot in the top four behind Filip Hronek, Marcus Pettersson, and Tyler Myers being a legitimate possibility. With a longer-term lens, he could be a potential long-term partner with fellow rookie Tom Willander.
Buium is signed on his entry-level contract through the 2026-27 campaign with a cap hit of $967K plus an additional $1MM in potential ‘A’ bonuses in each year. If he progresses as expected, his second contract could wind up eclipsing what Hughes is making now while giving them a foundational blueliner, albeit not a franchise one like Hughes is. Buium is under team control through the 2032-33 season.
As for Rossi, he helps fill a need that the Canucks have had for quite some time as a legitimate second-line center to play behind Elias Pettersson. J.T. Miller and Bo Horvat were on the roster is past years but both were ultimately moved out and with due respect to Filip Chytil who can be a quality player when healthy, Vancouver lost a lot of impact depth down the middle with those swaps. Rossi isn’t at the level of Miller or Horvat but he will be a substantial upgrade on their current depth options, a group headlined by recent UFA signing David Kampf.
The 24-year-old was the ninth pick back in the 2020 draft class. Rossi battled myocarditis not long after being selected which stalled his development although he bounced back without any long-term concerns. He had a solid showing in 2023-24 with 40 points in 82 games and then was considerably more productive last season, tallying 24 goals and 36 assists in 82 regular season games while playing over 18 minutes per night. However, his ice time dropped in the playoffs to just 11 minutes per game and he remained a subject of consistent trade speculation throughout the summer with the two sides well apart on contract talks for a considerable amount of time.
Eventually, the parties worked out a three-year, $15MM bridge deal in late August. He will remain under team control at its expiration for one more year but will be owed a $6MM qualifying offer with salary arbitration rights. Meanwhile, Rossi has produced at a similar level this season, picking up four goals and nine assists in 17 games. However, he has missed the last four weeks with a lower-body injury although he took part in Minnesota’s morning skate on Thursday which suggests he’s getting closer to returning. With Pettersson out of the lineup himself, it’s possible that Rossi could jump right into a top-line role depending on when he returns. He and Braeden Cootes – a 2025 first-round pick – now give Vancouver some much-needed longer-term stability behind Pettersson down the middle.
As for Ohgren, he’s an intriguing addition to this swap. The 21-year-old was a first-round pick by the Wild in 2022, going 19th overall. However, his development hasn’t gone quite as planned to this point.
Ohgren had his first full season in North America in 2024-25 and was quite productive with AHL Iowa, amassing 19 goals and 18 assists in 41 games, more than solid production for a rookie. But while that yielded some opportunities with Minnesota, he wasn’t able to produce very much, being limited to just two goals and three assists in 24 games. This season, he’s still looking for his first point after being held off the scoresheet in his first 18 outings while logging just 9:32 per night. Ohgren briefly saw some action with Iowa as well, notching two goals and three helpers in nine games.
That made Ohgren a legitimate change-of-scenery candidate. He should have an opportunity to play a little higher up the depth chart at some point with Vancouver and if he can turn into a productive secondary scorer, he’s someone who can be a useful piece for them for a while. In the second season of his entry-level deal, Ohgren has a cap hit of $887K along with $500K in ‘A’ bonuses per year. He’s under club control through the 2030-31 campaign.
Between these players and a first-round pick, Vancouver has added what they hope will be several core players to help them down the road. If all goes well, it will result in them taking a step back to take a couple of steps forward down the road.
From a salary cap perspective, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic mentions (Twitter link) that there is no salary cap retention on any players in the swap. PuckPedia notes that the Wild are adding a net cap charge of just under $997K over a full season. Using their numbers, that means that Minnesota is now projected to finish the year around $2.1MM below the cap ceiling, meaning that Guerin still has some financial flexibility to try to add to his roster later in the year. Meanwhile, Vancouver is still operating in LTIR although they should be able to dip below that threshold before too long, allowing them to bank some cap space to put toward some of the bonuses for their entry-level players.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that Hughes was being traded to the Wild. Dreger was the first with the full trade return.
Photos courtesy of Sergei Belski and Nick Wosika-Imagn Images.
Canucks Have A Clear Blueprint To Bring To Quinn Hughes Trade Discussions
The question of whether Quinn Hughes will sign an extension with the Canucks to keep him in Vancouver beyond the 2026-27 season remains an open book. However, the club having the worst record in the Western Conference, with a second straight playoff miss in sight, certainly doesn’t bode well for his future.
The recent uptick in reports of teams calling Vancouver about Hughes’ availability could be more rooted in conjecture than reality. With the Canucks’ lack of hesitance under the oversight of the Patrik Allvin/Jim Rutherford front office to move on from star players, though, a trade – whether this season, over the summer, or early next year – feels more probable than possible.
There will be rampant speculation about where he ends up and how it happens until a resolution, one way or another, comes to pass. He’s a bona fide top-three defenseman in the NHL and a top-15 player outright. At a $7.85MM cap hit (for now), he’s among the most affordable truly elite talents in the league. His lack of trade protection makes him a highly movable asset, too – especially if Vancouver pulls the trigger now, before he becomes a pending unrestricted free agent.
Even if they wait until the summer or next season to make a move, they’re still in for a gargantuan return. Those hoping for a discount because of his lack of team control past 2027 will be disappointed. No team is going to be willing to put forth a competitive-enough offer without a high degree of certainty – or at least optimism – that he will be willing to sign a long-term extension.
It feels like an exceedingly rare situation for a player of Hughes’ caliber to be legitimately available for trade with at least a full season left on his deal. There’s precedent for such a move, though.
The circumstances surrounding the first Erik Karlsson blockbuster, which sent him from the Senators to the Sharks in the 2018 offseason, are strikingly similar from both the player’s and the team’s perspective. Karlsson was a year older than Hughes at the time of the deal, but their value and reputation were extremely comparable. Both had recent Norris wins and multiple nominations. Both had top-10 MVP finishes (Karlsson had three at that point compared to Hughes’ one).
Organizationally, it’s fair to draw comparisons as well. The Senators’ record in 2017-18 had tanked to the second-worst point total in the East immediately after a resurgent 2016-17 campaign that saw them reach the Eastern Conference Final. The Canucks are trending toward a similar fate, albeit two years removed from their explosive 2023-24 regular season, when they captured the Pacific Division crown and came one game away from a WCF appearance. Both teams were center-needy. Ottawa had moved the preceding year to acquire Matt Duchene, but he didn’t last long with the Sens. Beyond Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who was also dealt within a couple of years, there wasn’t any long-term depth in the system.
Vancouver now has Braeden Cootes as a hopeful top-six option after selecting him No. 15 overall this year, but there are no other names in the system who project as everyday NHLers. Behind Elias Pettersson, there are no impact options on the NHL roster aside from a high-ceiling but independent Filip Chytil.
The Canucks, then, shouldn’t have too much trouble dictating their terms if trade negotiations do get serious. When Ottawa shipped out Karlsson (plus minor-league forward Francis Perron) with a year left on his deal, their return wasn’t entirely futures-focused.
Four players – plus three draft picks (a first and two seconds) – came back in the deal. The most high-profile skater at the time was the signing rights to center Joshua Norris, who was the Sharks’ clear-cut top prospect at the time and one year removed from being a top-20 pick. Winger Rudolfs Balcers was a fifth-rounder three years prior but was coming off a 48-point rookie season in the minors and was regarded as a top-five prospect in San Jose’s pool.
The two “help-now” names in the deal were still relatively young: Chris Tierney (24) and Dylan DeMelo (25). Tierney was coming off a 40-point breakout as San Jose’s third-line center, while DeMelo had seen his stock jump in a similar manner with 20 assists in 63 games as San Jose’s third right-shot option on the blue line.
As a result, Vancouver should be asking for – and getting – the same haul of draft picks, an under-20 center with first-round pedigree, a B-tier prospect, a young middle-six center, and a promising depth lefty on defense to help shoulder the loss of Hughes from a roster management perspective. Those hoping for a discount because he’s not team-controlled for more than two years will be disappointed. Canucks fans hoping for an immediately impactful top-six center will likely be as well.
The Devils have been the most frequently speculated destination for Hughes to unite him with his brothers, Jack and Luke. The notion of them being the favorite to acquire him – at least via trade and not free agency – falls apart when considering they don’t have a Norris-caliber center, or anything close to it, in their prospect pool. Their next wave of forwards is already relatively weak, and the top name – 2023 second-rounder Lenni Hameenäho – is a winger. Dawson Mercer would draw the comparison to Tierney, a considerably higher-value one, thanks to him tracking toward a second career 50-point season. Still, the Canucks will aim for a higher-ceiling and younger needle-mover as the centerpiece of the return down the middle to anchor the years-long retool that a Hughes trade will usher in.
With that in mind, from the Canucks’ perspective, that makes the Red Wings the most attractive suitor of the teams firmly linked to Hughes so far by a significant margin. Nate Danielson is a 2023 pick – further removed from the trade than Norris was – but was a higher selection at No. 9 overall and carries a bit more value, particularly as he’s solidifying a spot on Detroit’s roster already. They don’t have a similarly-aged comparable for Tierney, but could move veteran Andrew Copp, who’s scoring at a 40-point pace this season. That would rank eighth on the Canucks and second among centers behind Pettersson. Albert Johansson is perhaps a more well-regarded prospect than DeMelo was, but he is of similar age and role. That could help balance out the value gap between present-day Copp and 2018 Tierney. The Canucks could take their pick from Detroit’s bevy of B-level prospects.
Any team looking to match or exceed that package will need to meet the prerequisite of having a center – likely selected with a top 20 pick in the last two or three years – to start with. A name like Philadelphia’s Jett Luchanko would generate significant intrigue if paired with roster players like Noah Cates and Egor Zamula, for example.
The checklist is clear: a future high-end top-six center, a quality middle-six center, a young depth defender, a promising mid-to-late-round draft pick, plus the three picks. Let the mock trades fire away.
Image courtesy of Simon Fearn-Imagn Images.
Hurricanes, Capitals Linked To Quinn Hughes
It appears that more teams are smelling blood in the water when it comes to Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes. After already being linked to the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals have now made their interest known.
In the article, Pagnotta said, “We know the usual suspects. We’ll continue to hear more teams, I’m sure, as this progresses, but the latest two that I have are the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals.”
Neither team’s interest comes as a surprise. The Hurricanes have been one of the most consistently good teams in the Eastern Conference over the past few years, making three Eastern Conference Final appearances since the 2019 postseason. Additionally, the Capitals were the top team in the Eastern Conference last season and have again vaulted themselves to the top of the table in recent weeks, winning 10 of their previous 12 games.
Objectively, for all 31 other teams, Hughes improves the roster wholesale. In the case of Carolina and Washington, he fits a long-term hole as well. The two years remaining on Hughes’ contract coincide with Shayne Gostisbehere‘s with the Hurricanes, who is the offensive leader of their defensive core. Additionally, although they have Jakob Chychrun signed through the 2023-33 season, acquiring Hughes would make for a far easier transition out of the John Carlson era in Washington.
Regardless, if the Canucks were not only to entertain the idea of trading a player of Hughes’ caliber but actively seek one, the acquiring team would have to provide the goods. It’s well known that Vancouver is looking for a longer-term solution down the middle, and they would likely want several additional futures as well.
In Carolina, although the Canucks would expectably target Logan Stankoven, the Hurricanes would likely be unwilling to move him since they signed him to an eight-year, $48MM extension this past offseason. Still, Carolina could counter with quantity over quality, much like they did when they acquired Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023-24.
None of the prospects are bona fide top-six forwards (yet), but the Hurricanes could offer a package of Bradly Nadeau, Ivan Ryabkin, and Felix Unger Sörum, along with one or multiple of their four first-round selections over the next three years.
Meanwhile, the Capitals have all three of their first-round picks through the 2028 NHL Draft and have a movable center that could easily shift into the Canucks’ top-six, unlike the trio of hypothetical options from Carolina. Forward Connor McMichael, who is headed for restricted free agency next summer (UFA after 2028-29), could be a headliner in a potential Hughes trade.
After scoring 26 goals for Washington last season, McMichael has only four in 30 games this season. Still, after averaging a 14.1% shooting percentage from 2023 to 2025, there’s reason to believe his current 6.3% rate won’t last. Additionally, since he’s under team control for the next three seasons after this one, the Canucks would have plenty of time to sign him to a long-term extension.