{"id":346832,"date":"2025-12-13T18:21:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T18:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/346832\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T18:21:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T18:21:07","slug":"winners-and-losers-of-the-blockbuster-quinn-hughes-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/346832\/","title":{"rendered":"Winners and losers of the blockbuster Quinn Hughes trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the season started, who would have guessed that Quinn Hughes would be on the Minnesota Wild<\/a> by Christmas?<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s blockbuster trade that sent Hughes to Minnesota in exchange for Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam \u00d6hgren, and a 2026 first-round pick will be dissected for years to come. The effects of this move are going to be felt league-wide, with winners and losers on both sides of the ledger, as one of the game\u2019s best players joins one of the league\u2019s hottest teams.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n

Winner: Quinn Hughes<\/p>\n

Before the Canucks pulled the trigger on this trade, Jim Rutherford presented Hughes with the possible move to the Wild. Hughes, who didn\u2019t have any formal trade protection on his contract, took time to consider Minnesota as a destination and ultimately gave the Canucks the green light.<\/p>\n

The best-case scenario for Hughes may have been a trade to New Jersey to play with his brothers, but moving to any contending team has to be an exciting opportunity for him. Hughes is obsessed with winning, and you could tell how frustrated he was with the hopeless situation of the 32nd-place Canucks, who are poised to miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six years. NHL players\u2019 primes aren\u2019t very long \u2014 Vancouver could have easily dragged this situation out until the summer, which would have meant another wasted season for Hughes. A delayed trade would have meant months of additional uncertainty and his future being a 24\/7 talking point.<\/p>\n

Instead, Hughes avoids all that nonsense and joins a team that is tied for the sixth-best points percentage in the NHL. He\u2019s all but guaranteed just the third playoff appearance of his career. In Vancouver, Hughes was expected to do all the heavy lifting to manufacture offense by himself. In Minnesota, he\u2019ll be surrounded by elite offensive weapons to pass to in Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy.<\/p>\n

When Hughes becomes extension-eligible in the summer, he\u2019ll have the leverage to command whatever price he wants from the Wild, who you\u2019d assume will move heaven and earth to extend him after the haul they gave up to acquire him. And if Hughes doesn\u2019t want to stay in Minnesota for whatever reason? He can still call the shots and become a free agent in 2027.<\/p>\n

Loser: Canucks ownership and management<\/p>\n

Yes, Vancouver made the most of an unfortunate situation by extracting a boatload of assets (more on that in a bit) from Minnesota. Make no mistake, though, this is an awful, heartbreaking moment for the organization and its fan base.<\/p>\n

Hughes was one of the best players to ever wear a Canucks uniform and was by far the greatest defenseman in franchise history. The Canucks catastrophically failed to build a sustainable contender around him. Going back to the Jim Benning era, the Canucks refused to accumulate draft picks and young assets to build around Hughes, instead constantly chasing short-term fixes. Rutherford\u2019s regime inherited a messy cap situation and a barren prospect pool, but didn\u2019t fare much better outside of the fleeting 2023-24 season, where the Canucks made the second round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Fans will remember both of those management groups and ownership (they reportedly refused a proper rebuild in the late 2010s and allowed Benning to be general manager for way too long) for wasting some of Hughes\u2019 best years and ultimately losing him.<\/p>\n

Winner: Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n

The Wild have suffered a whopping seven first-round playoff defeats in the last decade. They haven\u2019t made the Western Conference Final since 2003 and have never appeared in a Stanley Cup Final. Adding Hughes, a top-10 player in the NHL, is the kind of game-changing acquisition that could finally help them go on a deep playoff run. On paper, a team led by Kaprizov, Hughes, Boldy, Brock Faber, Jesper Wallstedt, and Joel Eriksson Ek profiles as a true Stanley Cup contender.<\/p>\n

As colleague Dom Luszczyszyn pointed out<\/a>, only three teams had fewer points from their blue line than Minnesota\u2019s 50 going into Thursday\u2019s games. The Wild, before Hughes\u2019 acquisition, were also the only team without a single defenseman projected to have an above-average Offensive Rating, according to Dom\u2019s model.<\/p>\n

Is there risk to this trade if Hughes doesn\u2019t re-sign? Sure. But Minnesota\u2019s chances of extending Hughes are aided by the fact that they can offer him more money than anybody else this offseason \u2014 the Wild can offer him an eight-year extension, a frontloaded structure, and extremely player-friendly signing bonuses according to the old CBA rules through Sept. 15, 2026, compared to the maximum of six years if he signs with a new team as an unrestricted free-agent on July 1, 2027.<\/p>\n

In a worst-case scenario where the Wild can\u2019t re-sign Hughes, they can trade him elsewhere and recoup a ton of value. Brock Nelson, for example, fetched the Islanders a first-round pick, an A-grade prospect in Calum Ritchie, and a third-round pick at last year\u2019s trade deadline as a rental. If Hughes were dealt at the 2027 trade deadline as a rental, he could be worth two first-round picks and a prospect.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the upside for this trade is off the charts if the Wild can extend Hughes for the remainder of his prime, especially in a world where elite talent is nearly impossible to acquire.<\/p>\n

Winner: Canucks\u2019 under-25 talent pool<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an absolute nightmare that the Canucks lost Hughes. But if you accept that his departure was inevitable given the team\u2019s state, the organization salvaged the trade return reasonably well. When The Athletic surveyed executives from different NHL teams, most gave the Canucks high marks for landing this lucrative package of young assets.<\/p>\n

Buium is the piece that Canucks fans should be salivating about. The 20-year-old left-shot defender was one of the best players in college hockey the last couple of years. He\u2019s an elite skater, is already a capable PP1 quarterback, and has the ceiling to one day become Hughes-lite. Scott Wheeler rated him as the fifth-best prospect in hockey<\/a> last summer. Buium has faced some defensive challenges as a rookie this season, but he only turned 20 last week. Whether Buium reaches his potential will make or break this trade return for the Canucks.<\/p>\n

Rossi is a quality second-line center coming off a 60-point season. He\u2019s more of a complementary scorer rather than someone you\u2019d count on to drive a line. It will be interesting to see how he produces away from Kaprizov, especially since the Canucks don\u2019t have a star winger to play with him.<\/p>\n

\u00d6hgren, the No. 19 pick in 2022, is a decent left-wing prospect. His stock has dipped as he\u2019s yet to register a point in 18 NHL games this season, but there\u2019s still a realistic scenario where he could pan out as a quality third-line forward.<\/p>\n

Add whoever the Canucks select with Minnesota\u2019s first-round pick at this summer\u2019s draft, and all of a sudden, Vancouver\u2019s under-25 talent pool is in significantly better shape. The Canucks will need lottery picks for 2-3 years to add elite, top-of-the-lineup difference makers, but this trade at least ensures that the club is entering a rebuild\/retool with some blue-chip young assets.<\/p>\n

Loser: New Jersey Devils<\/p>\n

The Devils could end up having the last laugh if Hughes shuns the Wild and bolts to play with his brothers as a free agent in 2027.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no guarantee that scenario will unfold, though. So for now, it has to be disappointing for New Jersey to strike out on Hughes.<\/p>\n

New Jersey\u2019s inability to complete a Hughes trade shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise \u2014 we wrote last week<\/a> about why Hughes\u2019 lack of trade protection gave the Canucks significant leverage and how the Devils didn\u2019t have the assets to land him. Pierre LeBrun reported that the Devils \u201cmade what they feel was a strong first offer\u201d<\/a> for Hughes.<\/p>\n

It makes complete sense that the Devils bowed out in the end (and that\u2019s not a criticism), but boy, could they have used Hughes to help a team that has lost six of its last seven games and is currently sitting outside of a playoff spot following Jack Hughes\u2019 injury.<\/p>\n

The biggest fear, though? The Wild achieve playoff success with Hughes this season and secure his signature on a long-term extension this summer by offering him the extra term, extra guaranteed dollars, front-loaded contract structure, and lucrative signing bonuses on a deal he can\u2019t get anywhere else.<\/p>\n

Winner: Vancouver\u2019s chances of tanking for a top-3 pick<\/p>\n

One advantage of the Canucks selling Hughes early, rather than dragging this out until the offseason, is that they have a much better chance of tanking for a top-three draft pick. In some past years, the Canucks have infamously gone on meaningless second-half hot streaks that have worsened their draft position. That scenario is technically still possible, but it feels far less likely when you remove a superstar player from a team that\u2019s already in 32nd place.<\/p>\n

Sure, Rossi\u2019s arrival will be a major boost to the Canucks\u2019 dire center situation (David K\u00e4mpf has been playing in a top-six center role) and Buium is NHL-ready as well. Still, neither\u2019s impact this year will come close to matching Hughes\u2019 play-driving dominance.<\/p>\n

Landing as high a pick as possible this summer is a must for a Canucks team that desperately needs to be restocked with future star talent. While Gavin McKenna at No. 1 would be the dream, other elite prospects in the top three to four would have Vancouver fans drooling.<\/p>\n

Loser: The rest of the Central division<\/p>\n

Nearly every Central team will be negatively impacted by Minnesota\u2019s acquisition of Hughes.<\/p>\n

If the playoffs began today, the Stars would face the Wild in Round 1. Before this trade, Dallas would have been the heavy favorite, but acquiring Hughes (and Wallstedt\u2019s breakout this year) undoubtedly closes the gap between the two teams.<\/p>\n

Is the Winnipeg Jets\u2019 Cup contention window closed? The Jets are already in danger of missing the playoffs, but even if they qualify, how can they realistically get through Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota, both now and in the future?<\/p>\n

The Blackhawks and Mammoth, two up-and-coming teams, face a more challenging ascent as the Wild level up.<\/p>\n

St. Louis, which was viewed in a similar vein to Minnesota before the season started, now seems miles behind the latter.<\/p>\n

Winner: Judd Brackett<\/p>\n

In 2020, following disagreements on autonomy and a breakdown of trust<\/a> with then-Canucks GM Benning, Brackett left Vancouver to take over as the Wild\u2019s director of amateur scouting.<\/p>\n

Since then, Minnesota has built up one of the best prospect pipelines in the NHL. And as many people pointed out in the aftermath of the Hughes trade, it was the inclusion of three of Brackett\u2019s first-round draft picks in Rossi, Buium, and \u00d6hgren that got the deal across the finish line. That has to be a massive feather in Brackett\u2019s cap.<\/p>\n

The jury is still out on exactly how good those players will become, but their appeal to the Canucks as blue-chip assets is all that matters for the Wild. The Devils, in comparison, drafted Alex Holtz two picks ahead of Rossi in 2020 and Anton Silayev two picks ahead of Buium. Silayev could still turn out to be a good selection, but there\u2019s an alternate universe where New Jersey could have had the exact assets Vancouver coveted in a Hughes deal had it made different picks.<\/p>\n

Winner: Brock Faber<\/p>\n

Brock Faber is a bona fide top-pair talent, but at times, he\u2019s been asked to do too much as the team\u2019s No. 1 defender. When the Wild ran into top-four blue line injuries in past years, Faber would routinely be pushing 26-30 minutes per night. That excessive workload would eventually catch up to him and cause a dip in his play and two-way metrics.<\/p>\n

Now, Faber can slot in as an elite No. 2 defenseman rather than as a No. 1. Hughes\u2019 arrival as another massive minute muncher will take some stress off of Faber, whose performance should hit another level now that he\u2019s slotted more appropriately.<\/p>\n

Faber could also end up being Hughes\u2019 full-time partner, which would be a remarkable opportunity. It would allow the 23-year-old right-shot defender to fully focus on his strengths as an excellent defensive stopper and enable him to defer most offensive creation to Hughes.<\/p>\n

Loser: Hughes\u2019 American friends on the Canucks<\/p>\n

Last summer, Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, and Thatcher Demko all signed contract extensions to stay in Vancouver. Back then, it seemed like a promising sign that the club\u2019s secondary core pieces, who were not only Hughes\u2019 fellow countrymen but also friends, were willing to commit to the organization long-term.<\/p>\n

How are those players feeling now? It must be gutting to lose your best player, a close friend, and with that, any chance of being a playoff team.<\/p>\n

Boeser, the team\u2019s longest tenured player, has planted roots in Vancouver. He has a no-movement clause and seems like the kind of loyal player that would want to stay for the long haul. What about Garland and Demko, though? Neither has any trade protection because their contract extensions don\u2019t kick in until next season. Will the Canucks shop those two as the rebuild\/retool continues?<\/p>\n

Winner: The Eastern Conference<\/p>\n

Hughes\u2019 initial preference was to be traded somewhere East. It\u2019s perhaps why teams like the Red Wings, Devils, Capitals, and Flyers dominated some of the early Hughes trade rumors. While those teams may be disappointed to miss out on Hughes, many are at least catching a break by not having him join a rival within the conference.<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes, for example, are probably pleased that Hughes stayed in the West rather than joining the Capitals, who they will likely have to play in Round 1 or 2 because of the divisional playoff format. The Caps probably feel the same way about the Hurricanes not landing Hughes.<\/p>\n

Detroit made a lot of sense as a possible landing spot for Hughes, given his ties to the Michigan area and the Red Wings\u2019 surplus of young assets. Detroit\u2019s Atlantic Division playoff competitors, such as the Canadiens, Bruins, Leafs, and others, must be glad Hughes isn\u2019t landing in their division and hurting their playoff chances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before the season started, who would have guessed that Quinn Hughes would be on the Minnesota Wild by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4828,385,99,1320],"class_list":{"0":"post-346832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-minnesota-wild","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-vancouver-canucks"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}