Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes was traded to the Minnesota Wild, the teams announced on Friday. It was a blockbuster deal in which Vancouver received three roster players — defenseman Zeev Buium, center Marco Rossi and winger Liam Ohgren — as well as a first-round pick.
It’s one of the boldest moves in Wild franchise history, and signals GM Bill Guerin’s hunger to win now after signing Kirill Kaprizov to the richest contract in NHL history this summer. The Wild have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2015.
Hughes, 26, is a 2018 first-round pick of the Canucks and considered one of the best defensemen in the league. He is one of six players already named to the Team USA Olympic men’s hockey team. Hughes won the Norris Trophy in 2023-24 when he recorded a career-high 92 points for a first-place Canucks team.
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However, a Hughes trade became increasingly inevitable after the Canucks got off to a poor start. Vancouver entered Friday in last place in the Pacific Division at 11-17-3 with a minus-24 goal differential. Late last month, the Vancouver front office sent a memo across the league that it was open to trading any of its pending unrestricted free agents. That did not include Hughes, who is under contract through the end of next season.
However, it empowered many general managers across the league to inquire about Hughes, who did not have any trade protection.
The Canucks got plenty in return. Buium, 20, is a 2024 first-round pick of the Wild and can inherit Hughes’ role as a true power-play quarterback. Rossi, 24, and Ohgren, 21, are also former first-round picks of the Wild.
Though Hughes never asked for a trade, many around the NHL believed he did not want to re-sign in Vancouver after his contract expired in the summer of 2027. The prevailing belief is that Hughes preferred to play for a United States-based team on the East Coast. Hughes spends his offseason in Michigan. His brothers, Jack and Luke, play for the New Jersey Devils.
According to sources, the Devils did make a trade offer for Hughes to reunite him with his two younger brothers. However, New Jersey couldn’t match what Minnesota gave up.
Minnesota began engaging with Vancouver about a week ago, according to sources, and the deal came together quickly. The Canucks received at least six other offers, according to sources, but Vancouver believed Minnesota presented the strongest overall package that can best set the team up for the future.
Hughes is not eligible to sign an extension with the Wild until July 1.
