{"id":311404,"date":"2025-11-28T01:44:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T01:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/311404\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T01:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T01:44:09","slug":"all-about-winning-hughes-not-ready-to-surrender-season-amid-canucks-trade-noise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/311404\/","title":{"rendered":"‘All about winning’: Hughes not ready to surrender season amid Canucks’ trade noise"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 Vancouver Canucks<\/a> captain Quinn Hughes<\/a> confirmed Thursday that he was completely unaware what team president Jim Rutherford had for breakfast.<\/p>\n

But as for hockey matters and the \u201ctransition\u201d of the National Hockey League team that Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin are trying to undertake, Hughes, the captain, said he speaks regularly with Rutherford and has an excellent relationship with the Canucks\u2019 hockey-operations boss.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Jim have a really good relationship, and I have a ton of respect for Jim,\u201d Hughes said after the Canucks practised here Thursday. \u201cHe’s a Hall-of-Fame GM, and absolutely, yeah, I talk to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know about always being on the same boat or anything like that, but I know that I have tremendous respect for Jim and have no problem talking to Jim and vice versa. He has been a resource for me, and it’s been a good relationship for me. So he knows how I feel (and) I know how he feels.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, Hughes was unaware until the story broke publicly this week \u2014 then was confirmed by Rutherford \u2014 that the Canucks had notified other NHL teams that Vancouver players eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer are available now in trade.<\/p>\n

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It beamed a spotlight on buzzsaw winger Kiefer Sherwood<\/a>, who is easily the best and most marketable Canuck on an expiring contract. The 30-year-old also happens to be the team\u2019s top-goal scorer this season with 12 in 24 games.<\/p>\n

Sherwood thoughtfully and professionally answered Sportsnet\u2019s questions about the uncomfortable situation on Wednesday morning, then played another strong game as his struggling team beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 that night.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I love it here and I love this group here, and I just want to continue to take it day by day,\u201d Sherwood told us. \u201cI guess it’s just part of the gig. You\u2019ve got to be professional and you have a job to go play. You try to have a good mindset through it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman first reported the story Monday night.<\/a> In an interview with PostMedia on Tuesday, Rutherford reiterated the Canucks\u2019 need to get younger and clarified that he is soliciting interest on their UFA-eligible players \u2014 Sherwood, Evander Kane, Teddy Blueger and Derek Forbort \u2014 and that \u201cthis isn\u2019t about just looking at trading everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I think this is all about winning games,\u201d Hughes said Thursday, referring to the Canucks\u2019 10-12-2 record and position near the bottom of the standings. \u201cIf we were winning games, Jim wouldn’t have said that. I don’t exactly know what he said because I’m not on Twitter or anything, but I heard the gist of it, and I think, like I said, if we were winning games, there would be no conversation about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Vancouver opened the season with the singular goal of returning to the Stanley Cup playoffs, injuries quickly reached a critical mass, defensive play eroded and the team started losing. The win against the Pacific Division-leading Ducks was just the Canucks\u2019 second in eight games, but still left them five points adrift of a playoff spot at U.S. Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

The Canucks flew to San Jose after Thursday\u2019s practice and play a mid-day game there Friday against the Sharks, another rebuilding team that has become competitive after being deliberately poor for years.<\/p>\n

Hughes, of course, is eligible for free agency after next season, and the best player in Canucks history is expected to decide this summer whether to sign an extension or seek a trade to the New Jersey Devils to play with younger brothers Jack and Luke.<\/p>\n

Within this subplot to the Canucks season, every move management makes will be viewed by many through the lens of how Quinn Hughes feels about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not like Jim’s telling me what he had for breakfast,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cBut, I mean, we talk and we have a good relationship. I know our coaches are coaching hard and working hard, and we work extremely hard (as players). We\u2019ve just got to keep going like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously. . . it’s all about winning, so I was glad we won last night. You want to be competitive and you never want to lose on your home ice like we did a few nights ago (5-2 against the Calgary Flames on Sunday). That’s a bad feeling. But as far as whatever happens next, all I can control is my game and attitude and trying to be a good leader. And I feel like, as far as my game, it’s as good as it has been. So that’s all I can do right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone who thinks Hughes is texting grievances to Rutherford \u2014 or has agent Pat Brisson making managerial demands \u2014 probably underestimates the superstar\u2019s steady professionalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I have my moments where I’m not a pro,\u201d Hughes smiled. \u201cLike, you can ask the guys around here; I have my moments. But as far as that, like, the main thing is your game. And last night, I felt like I created eight or nine or 10 scoring chances. That’s all you can do. And defend hard. Everything else is just people talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a good win last night, and all we can do is try to grab as many points as we can on this road trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hughes said he doesn\u2019t believe spurring trade talks this far ahead of the March 6 trade deadline disrupts the team because players, especially the UFAs, have \u201cbeen around\u201d and understand the NHL is a business.<\/p>\n

He also doesn\u2019t view it as surrendering on the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should believe (in ourselves),\u201d Hughes said. \u201cI mean, we should be approaching every game like it is our last. Or how we approach the first game of the year, with that kind of excitement. We should be approaching tomorrow\u2019s game like that, as well. I don’t know why anything would change. I think that’s just being a professional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Coach Adam Foote made one change for Thursday\u2019s practice, inserting Lukas Reichel in the middle of the fourth line while centre Aatu Raty skated as an extra. With one assist in 13 games since his trade from the Chicago Blackhawks, Reichel was healthy-scratched the last three games. Foote said Raty could use \u201ca little bit of a break.\u201d Centre Max Sasson was promoted from the fourth line to replace Raty between Sherwood and Drew O\u2019Connor, while Reichel practised with wingers Linus Karlsson and Arshdeep Bains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes confirmed Thursday that he was completely unaware what team president…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-311404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}