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kgdabom -> RE: Wild 2025-26 Season (1/3/2026 2:23:29 AM)
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I picked the wrong few days to not check in on this board when the Hughes trade happened. I had no idea of what a big deal this was. Tonight I saw that Hughes had 4 assists and was the #1 star. Since I haven't been following hockey much recently I googled him to find out how good he is supposed to be. This is what Google had to say.
Quinn Hughes is an elite, game-changing defenseman for the Minnesota Wild, instantly elevating their offense and defense with incredible skating, puck movement, and playmaking, leading to massive offensive boosts and better zone control, though opponents will target him physically in the playoffs, notes Hockey Wilderness and The New York Times. He's a high-minute, high-impact player, often paired with Faber, creating a dynamic duo that dominates possession and turns defense into offense, making him one of the league's best defensemen and a top NHL talent.
I knew we had recently acquired him, but I had no idea what kind of player he was. I'm very late to this party obviously. I guess I need to look back a few pages to see what you all thought about this deal. I Googled the trade and the price was steep especially considering he's only under contract for one more year.
Hughes traded to Wild by Canucks in blockbuster deal
Vancouver receives Rossi, Ohgren, Buium, 2026 1st-round pick for 2023-24 Norris winner
Quinn Hughes was traded to the Minnesota Wild by the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.
Vancouver received forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren, defenseman Zeev Buium and a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
"Bringing a player like Quinn Hughes here, you just don’t get this opportunities all that often," Wild general manager Bill Guerin said Saturday. "Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren, all great kids, great players with bright futures. Definitely hard to part with guys that you draft, develop, you spend time with. You get to know them, their families. But like I said, when a player of Quinn’s caliber comes available, and you have an opportunity to get him, there’s a cost to it and we were willing to do what it takes."
The 26-year-old defenseman and Vancouver captain was in his eighth season with the Canucks after being selected by them in the first round (No. 7) of the 2018 NHL Draft. He is in the fifth season of a six-year, $47.1 million contract ($7.85 million average annual value) he signed on Oct. 3, 2021, and can become an unrestricted free agent after the 2026-27 season.
Hughes won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman for the 2023-24 season after posting career highs with 92 points, 17 goals, and 75 assists. He was also a finalist for the award last season, when he had 76 points (16 goals, 60 assists).
"It's difficult trading a player like Quinn," said Jim Rutherford, Vancouver's president of hockey operations. "We love him as a person and as a player, one of the greatest players that’s ever played for the Canucks. I think that we have to respect what he's done here, and respect the fact that he was getting closer to free agency and he'd have a choice to go where he wanted. But what this means for the Canucks, people throw around different words, what's the direction of the Canucks?
"So I believe that we've been in a rebuild here for a little bit, and we've been able to acquire some good young players, but this move today gives us some really good young players. It may not change our team in the next few months or even this season, but this doesn't have to be a full blown rebuild where it's going to take five or seven years. We keep going the direction we're going to go on. We're going to get a really good player in June, and this thing can turn for the Canucks, certainly within the next couple of years."
Hughes was one of the first six players named to the United States roster for the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026. He was selected for the 4 Nations Face-off last year but did not play due to injury. Guerin was the GM of that team.
"He’s really excited. He’s such a great kid. Like I said, we, through the whole 4 Nations process last year with him maybe being ready, we've talked almost every day through that process," Guerin said. "So we got to know each other. All he wants to do is win, and be a part of something special. He's really excited. I think we have a really unique bunch of guys in our locker room. He will, he'll see how we operate and how that group of guys operates. ... It's a really good bunch of guys and they play for each other. I think that's what he's looking for."
In 459 games, Hughes has 432 points (61 goals, 371 assists), the most by a defenseman in Vancouver franchise history, and 26 points (two goals, 24 assists) in 30 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He has 23 points (two goals, 21 assists) in 26 games this season, leading the Canucks at the time of the trade.
"It’s definitely not an easy day for the franchise," Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said. "Quinn Hughes has been a big part of the organization and a great person and a great hockey player and has a lot of records. It’s a tough, tough day, but we’re also excited about the return on the players we got here, the younger players and we’ll continue to build with them from Minnesota."
The Canucks are 11-17-3 and in eighth place in the Pacific Division, eight points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference under first-year coach Adam Foote.
"It was a little shocking," Quinn's younger brother, and New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes said Saturday. "I guess, obviously we kind of knew it was coming like everyone else. But stuff happens in sports, and it's part of the business, and whether you like it or whether you don't like it, it's part of our job. And like I said, he's really excited, and he's going to be great for that team."
After winning the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9 record in Hughes' Norris-winning season of 2023-24 and reaching the Western Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs under then-coach Rick Tocchet, the Canucks slipped to 38-30-14 in 2024-25 and missed the playoffs, finishing six points out of a wild-card spot.
With that frustrating season, which saw center J.T. Miller traded to the New York Rangers on Jan. 31 and Tocchet departing at the end of the year, came increasing speculation about Hughes' future in Vancouver.
"I believe this is something that you probably go back even a year ago, when this started to come to our attention that this might be the path that Quinn wants to go," Allvin said. "We were hoping, ownership was trying to do everything and we were trying to do everything to convince him to stay and work through it. But we felt when we were not able to do it that’s when we started the process to looking to see what potential destination would be out there and what potential teams could come up with the best return for the Vancouver Canucks moving forward."
Buium and Rossi were Minnesota's sixth- and seventh-leading scorers this season at the time of the trade.
Rossi, 24, a first-round pick (No. 9) by Minnesota in the 2020 NHL Draft, had 114 points (49 goals, 65 assists) in 202 games for the Wild, including 13 points (four goals, nine assists) this season. He signed a three-year, $15 million contract ($5 million AAV) with the Wild on Aug. 22, 2025 and can become a restricted free agent after the 2027-28 season.
Buium, 20, a first-round pick (No. 12) by Minnesota in 2024, made his NHL debut in the playoffs last season after playing two seasons at the University of Denver, winning a national championship in 2024 and returning to the Frozen Four in 2025 before losing to eventual champion Western Michigan in the semifinals.
He had one point in four playoff games last season and 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 31 games this season. Buium signed a three-year, entry-level contract on April 13, 2025.
"Zeev is a young defenseman that won two World Juniors and a national championship in Denver," Allvin said. "He’s an extremely talented offensive-minded defenseman that in a very short time experienced the playoffs last year when he was done in Denver and stepping right into the National Hockey League and playing for Minnesota and then following up this year where I think he looks stronger, more composed. Our scouting staff that followed him there are excited on the path that’s coming. He’s still very young and we know that for a defenseman it takes some time. But he definitely has the ability to quarterback a power play here and we’re really excited to work with him here."
Ohgren, 21, a first-round pick (No. 19) by Minnesota in the 2022 NHL Draft, has seven points (three goals, four assists) in 46 games for the Wild but has no points in 18 games this season. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract on July 16, 2022.
The Wild (18-9-5) are third in the Central Division. After beginning the season 3-6-3 through Oct. 30, they have gone 15-3-2 in their past 20 games.
NHL.com staff writer Derek Van Diest, senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale and independent correspondent Jessi Pierce contributed to this report
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