The Vancouver Canucks traded their captain and star of recent years, Quinn Hughes, to the Minnesota Wild. This is the largest trade in Minnesota history and one of the largest in recent years in the entire league. For some, it’s an all-in step in the fight for the Stanley Cup; for others, it’s a painful but inevitable start to a full-fledged restructuring.

Terms of the deal: who and where

Quinn Hughes went to Minnesota, and Vancouver received several serious assets at once:

• forward Marco Rossi (1st round of the 2020 draft),
• forward Liam Egren (1st round of the 2022 draft),
• defender Ziv Buyum (1st round of the 2024 draft),
• and a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

Essentially, the Canucks traded one superstar defenseman for a package of three young first-rounders plus an extra pick—the ultimate deal at a time when the team’s leader was considering leaving.

Why did Vancouver decide to take this step?

Hughes played 459 games in his NHL career and scored 432 points (61 goals, 371 assists). This season, he was the team’s top scorer – 23 (2+21) points in 26 matches, spending an average of 27 minutes 26 seconds on the ice per game with a utility indicator of -10.

Hughes’ contract with a cap hit of $7.85 million runs through the 2026-27 season, and he will be able to hit the free agent market in the summer of 2027. For about a year now, the club understood that there was a risk of losing the player without compensation.

Vancouver general manager Patrick Alvin said bluntly that negotiations over Hughes’ future have been going on for a long time.

“This is certainly a difficult day for the club. Quinn Hughes was a great part of the organization, a great person and a great hockey player who set many records. It’s a tough day, but we’re also happy for the players we got in return, the young players we’ll continue to build with after the trade with Minnesota.

Quinton Hughes / Photo: © Derek Cain / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

I think this is a question that was probably raised a year ago when we first noticed that Quinn might be leaving. We were hopeful, management was trying everything, and we were also trying to convince him to stay and go through the process. But when we realized that we could not do this, we began to consider possible options, to study which teams could offer the best trade for the Vancouver Canucks in the future,” the official NHL website quotes Alvin as saying.

Vancouver’s president of hockey operations, Jim Rutherford, voiced a similar thought, emphasizing that the club has received players who will become a key part of the restructuring.

Hughes is the best defenseman in Canucks history.

Hughes has played at near Hart Trophy levels the last two years. You can look for such hockey players for years, choosing in the top 5 of the draft, and still not find them.

Vancouver’s failure is not in the exchange itself, but in the fact that the club was unable to convince its main star to stay. But given the situation that management found itself in, the Canucks made the most of it.

What did Vancouver get?

Marco Rossi, 24 years old. This season – 13 (4+9) points in 17 matches, the utility indicator is “-6”. In November, he missed several weeks due to injury. In total, the Austrian has 202 games and 114 (49+65) points in the NHL. The contract with a cap hit of $5 million is valid until the end of the 2027/28 season.

Ziv Buyum, 20 years old. One of the most promising young defenders. This season – 14 (3+11) points in 31 matches, average time on ice 18:28, usefulness “-9”. Selected 12th overall in the 2024 draft, playing on a rookie contract.

Marco Rossi / Photo: © Ellen Schmidt / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Liam Egren, 21 years old. In 18 matches this season he was not effective. He was selected by Minnesota with the 19th overall pick in the 2022 draft.

Plus, the extra first-round pick in the 2026 draft is a major asset for a team that is officially entering rebuilding mode.

Why did Minnesota go all-in?

For the Wild, the trade is a signal to everyone: the team is focused on results here and now. The club now has Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes, an excellent goalkeeper pairing and several players who can change the outcome of a game at any moment. According to The Athletic, Minnesota has not received any guarantees that Hughes will extend his contract next summer.

Hughes had an option with New Jersey, where he could reunite with his brothers, but the Devils offered less compensation, according to sources. For Minnesota, this is the largest trade in club history and a calculated risk for a chance at the Stanley Cup. Now the main question is what will Minnesota show in the playoffs?