One of the narratives that will not go away is the speculation regarding Quinn Hughes and the New Jersey Devils. One of Hughes’ current teammates doesn’t seem to think all this hypothetical chatter means much, which certainly adds an interesting wrinkle to the storyline.
It’s fascinating timing given the fact that Dougie Hamilton is also in the NHL trade rumor mill. It seems like one thing can’t happen without the other. However, the Devils also have needs in their forward group, specifically a top-six winger, and a third-line center.
I digress.
Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations, Jim Rutherford, seemingly braced his fanbase for a crash landing when he hinted at the possibility of losing Quinn to play alongside brothers Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes back in April.
“(Quinn) has said before he wants to play with his brothers. That would be partly out of our control. In our control if we brought his brothers here.”
Rutherford did make sure to mention he would do everything in his power to keep the Vancouver captain with the Canucks.
READ MORE: Quinn Hughes Wants to Play With Devils Stars, Brothers
There’s been a lot of heat out of Vancouver in the last several years.
The question marks surrounding Elias Pettersson led to speculation whether he’d be a long-time Canuck or not. And once the Vancouver brass decided he would be, animosity between Pettersson and J.T. Miller resurfaced, keeping the Canucks in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
With so much discourse running through Vancouver and the comments from Rutherford earlier this year, it’s easy to imagine why Quinn might see greener pastures in New Jersey.
However, on the latest Cam and Strick Podcast, Tyler Myers appeared as a guest on the show, and poured cold water on the situation.
“He doesn’t like all that speculation and stuff,” Myers explained. “He loves his brothers, loves his family, like everybody else, but he’s not going around the room saying he wants to play with his brothers. I know it’s a big, big story around the hockey world, but everyone makes it a lot more than it is.”
Does the statement mean much? Perhaps not. The Canucks President of Hockey Operations is likely more well-informed of Hughes’ intentions with his future, as opposed to a fellow blueliner on the team. After all, Rutherford and GM Patrik Allvin are the ones who are going to have to make the final business decision.
However, it’s not like players don’t talk to each other in the locker room or outside the arena.
Regardless, someone is not being fed the truth here. Either Hughes is telling his teammates the speculation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, even if it is. Or, Rutherford said what he did about the Canucks captain to gauge the potential trade market, which would have no shortage of suitors, to perhaps reel in the biggest haul possible if/when the time comes to move the 25, soon 26-year-old defenseman.
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