Quinn Hughes is the best defenceman the Vancouver Canucks ever had, and now he’s gone. On Friday afternoon, the Canucks traded their captain and star player to the Minnesota Wild for centre Marco Rossi, left winger Liam Öhgren, and defenceman Zeev Buium, and a 2026 first-round pick. Vancouver was heavily linked to Rossi in the summer. It was even reported that Minnesota rejected a deal for him. Öhgren and Buium were two of the top prospects from the Wild. Öhgren was drafted by the Wild 19th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, and Buium was drafted 12th overall in 2024.
For a breakdown of the Hughes trade, please read AakashSports’ piece. This article is about Hughes’ time in Vancouver and how the Canucks wasted it due to constant incompetence.
A talented player, gone
When Hughes was drafted 7th overall by the Canucks in 2018, there was a lot of excitement. For starters, no one really expected Hughes to fall to Vancouver, and then, general manager Jim Benning barely contained his excitement after selecting him.
There was even more excitement when Hughes made his NHL debut late in the 2018-19 season and finished second to Cale Makar in Calder voting the next year. It was clear that the Canucks had a star. They never had a defenceman like Hughes either.
His smooth skating, playmaking, and defence wowed Canucks fans. This was a player that other teams craved: A true franchise two-way defenceman, one that could lead a team to a Stanley Cup. Since they both came into the league, Hughes and Makar have been seen as among the top defencemen in the NHL. Hughes won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenceman in the 2023-24 season and is the only Canuck to win that award.
He leaves Vancouver with 61 goals and 371 assists for 432 points in 459 games. Hughes leaves the Canucks seventh in franchise assists, the Canucks all-time leader in points for a defenceman, and seventh in goals by a Canucks blueliner.
It wasn’t supposed to end this way. It should’ve ended with Hughes leaving in his mid to late 30s after leading the Canucks to at least one Stanley Cup. He could’ve even retired as a Canuck. But instead, he gets traded to the Minnesota Wild in his prime.
Mismanagement and Bad Ownership leads to Hughes’ Exit
Friday’s trade was one of the darkest moments in franchise history. Rumours of Hughes being traded swirled for weeks, and the inevitable happened.
The Canucks failed Hughes by not building a competitive team around him, wasting the opportunity to maximize a franchise cornerstone’s impact.
Vancouver did have a surprisingly good 2023-24 and was among the top teams in the NHL. But they lost in Game 7 of the second round to the Edmonton Oilers, and it was all downhill from there.
2024-25 was a painful year, which saw JT Miller get traded to the New York Rangers after a feud with Elias Pettersson. This year, the Canucks sit at the bottom of the NHL standings. It felt like Hughes was going to get traded and not re-sign, judging by his on-ice body language and the way he spoke to the media, and who could blame him for wanting greener pastures? It looks like that was the case for a while.
It felt like the good times were back in Vancouver after the Canucks won the Pacific Division in 2023-24. But alas, the bad times were still here.
Once again, the Canucks continued to be one of the big memes of the NHL. No matter what they did, they were going nowhere because they refused to rebuild and retool on the fly. Benning did it and failed, and so have current GM Patrik Allvin and President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherfood. Though it is clear that owner Francesco Aquilini is the one calling the shots, it’s been reported for years.
There haven’t been any directions or concrete plans from this franchise. It is nothing but incompetence and controversies, and every day feels like a new low. Fans are fed up. Canucks fans on social media, podcasts, and the Sportsnet 650 post-game show have voiced their frustrations over the ownership and management of this team. Instead of a winning hockey team that competes for the Stanley Cup, fans just get a mediocre mess.
Rutherford did say in the press release that the Canucks are now in a rebuild. However, fans need to see it to believe it.
Allvin stated after the Hughes trade that the goal is still to bring in players 25 or younger, and they plan to use the acquired first-round pick at the draft as of now. It will be an interesting next few months, and will this actually be a rebuild? Knowing this franchise, definitely not.
So long Hughes
The Canucks wasted a generational talent. Now Hughes will join Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild and look to go on a deep playoff run.
The way the Canucks have been run for the last 11 years should be a case study on not how to run a professional sports team, along with the New York Jets, Chicago White Sox, and Manchester United. Trading Hughes was Vancouver’s way to pay for constant ownership meddling and mismanagement. They are paying the price of being dysfunctional and having no sense.
Right now, there isn’t hope for the fanbase. Will the Canucks ever win a Stanley Cup? It feels like a pipe dream. The Hughes trade focused on the future, and management hopes the pieces that came live up to their potential.
But an era ended in Vancouver, and it was wasted. While the return has some promise, losing a franchise player really hurts. Now Hughes can thrive in Minnesota, where he has a higher chance of winning a Stanley Cup. After all, some birds aren’t meant to be caged; their feathers are too bright.
