The Vancouver Canucks thought a year ago that Quinn Hughes might leave.
Yet, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin only called the Canucks last week.
Regardless, he was able to pull off one of the biggest trades in recent NHL history.
Perhaps a reason why he was able to do so is that the Canucks accepted his very first offer.
Guerin met with the media in Minnesota on Saturday morning after he acquired Hughes in exchange for Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Öhgren and a 2026 first-round pick.
“That was our initial offer,” Guerin told the media following the deal.
“With players of [Quinn Hughes’] calibre, you cannot screw around,” Guerin said. “You’re not going to fool anybody. Jim [Rutherford] has been doing this for 40 years. I know Patrik [Allvin]. They do their homework. They know. We had to go to them with something real, right away, to tell them that we’re serious.”
While some believe that the Canucks got a decent return for Hughes, considering the circumstances, Guerin’s admission that this was their first offer to Vancouver does make you wonder, could the Canucks have gotten more?
This is Quinn Hughes we’re talking about, after all.
Surely the negotiations continued past the first offer from Guerin, which in fairness, was serious enough to get the deal done.
Then again, hammering out a deal in a week, after the Canucks just admitted they thought over a year ago they might lose him, does seem quick.
A report from Jimmy Murphy of RG Media suggested that the Canucks and Capitals discussed a return of young defenceman Cole Hutson, centre Connor McMichael, another prospect, and two first-round picks.
Could the Canucks have used that as leverage to get more from Minnesota?
In the deal that Vancouver struck with the Wild, it was clear that, although the team wanted to get younger, the priority was on youngsters who could play in the NHL now, as opposed to collecting high draft picks and prospects.
Everything we heard about the Canucks’ desire to stay competitive largely transpired in the deal with Minnesota.
As for Guerin, while he was disappointed in giving up three good, young players, he was quick to answer why this was the right time to make a massive deal for one of the NHL’s best defencemen.
Because it’s Quinn Hughes,” he said. “I don’t know what the right moment is, but if you wait for it, you’re gonna miss it. I don’t know if the weather had to be warmer or something. When it’s a player of this caliber, the right time’s always now.”
Guerin has a pretty close relationship with Rutherford, dating back to their days together in Pittsburgh. The 55-year-old was Rutherford’s right-hand man in Pittsburgh, acting as assistant general manager underneath him for five seasons, before accepting the job as Wild general manager in 2019.