After billows of smoke for a few weeks in the NHL trade rumors, the Vancouver Canucks shocked everyone by dealing elite defenseman Quinn Hughes, not to the New Jersey Devils, but to the Minnesota Wild.
Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin was the Canucks president Jim Rutherford’s assistant GM when the two were together in Pittsburgh from 2014-2019, when Guerin took the Wild GM job. The friends hooked up Friday evening on the biggest trade of the season, and perhaps in several years.
Hughes, 26, is one of the game’s great young defensemen, winning the 2024 Norris Trophy and finishing third last season. This season, he has 23 points (2-21-23) in 26 games. However, Rutherford created a growing firestorm of trade chatter and rumors when he candidly admitted during an offseason press conference that Hughes would like to play with his two brothers, Jack and Luke, who play for New Jersey.
Rumors and speculation have been rampant since, and last week reached an intensity that coach Adam Foote admitted was affecting the team.
Minnesota traded young center Marco Rossi, 2022 19th overall pick Liam Öhgren, and impressive young defenseman Zeev Buium, who was the 12th overall pick in the 2024 draft. Minnesota also parted with its 2026 first-round pick.
Buium, 20, is in his rookie season and has 14 points (3-11-14) in 31 games, while averaging 18:28 of ice time.
Rossi, 24, was the subject of intense trade rumors last season when he was unhappy with his reduced role in the Minnesota lineup. However, the 5-foot-9 center regained a more prominent role last season.
This season, Rossi has produced 13 points, including four goals, in 17 games, playing over 18 minutes per game.
The deal will be risky for Minnesota, as Hughes will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2027, meaning he could be a season-and-a-half rental if Minnesota doesn’t extend him. Minnesota will have until next season to offer him an eight-year contract before recent collective bargaining changes reduce the max term to seven years.
Hughes is currently in the fifth year of a six-year deal with a $7.85 million average annual value.
And the deal was quite the coup for Minnesota, which kept its star players, Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Bouldy, and Brock Faber.
