Hughes Deal Is A “Wild” Gamble By Guerin

To say that a Quinn Hughes trade caught everyone by surprise would be a lie, because it was only a matter of time, based on the chatter emanating from Vancouver about the former Norris Trophy winner, and that the Canucks would move the 26-year-old a year and a half before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.  

Vancouver being dead last in the NHL standings meant the chances of Hughes re-upping in British Columbia were about as good as me dating Sarah McLachlan, so the fact that the Canucks were able to extract the return they did was miraculous. What was the surprise was the team that stepped up and paid a steep price. 

The return of Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren and a 2026 first round pick gives Vancouver a second-line center to play behind Elias Pettersson, a highly regarded rookie blueliner who could blossom into a top-pairing defender, a 21-year-old Swedish winger who scored 19 goals in a half season in the AHL, and a first rounder in what is expected to be a strong draft class. Add that to a 20% chance of winning the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes, and Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford did pretty good.

Rating who won and who lost this deal is next to impossible right now; that can only be done based on what Hughes chooses to do next summer. The Wild will take a run at winning a Stanley Cup this season, and could have one of the best defensive pairings in the league in Hughes and Brock Faber, but next summer, if he informs GM Bill Guerin that he intends to head to free agency in 2027, it is unlikely that Minnesota will get an equivalent return from New Jersey, where everyone expected Hughes to end up. 

The fact that Minnesota has to likely go through both Colorado and Dallas to get to the Western Conference Final makes them a dark horse in the West, even with Hughes. If by some miracle, they convince Hughes to sign in the Land of 1000 Lakes, then the high price the Wild paid was worth it, but my guess is he will end up in the land of 1000 sewage plants.