Article: Wild Acquire Quinn Hughes From Canucks In Shocking Blockbuster Trade

[Imyourhuckleberry]

2 hours ago, IrritatedFan76 said:

Big difference is Hughes is at the top of his game a Walker was holding on to one more season in the sun. Beg to differ, those Dallas championship years are LONG gone… the thank you notes have dried up a long time ago.

Dallas won a majority of their Super Bowls due to that trade, and they haven't been close since 1995, so I imagine there are a couple generations of Dallas fans who are still thankful to the Vikings for that trade.

I don't think the Wild traded quite that level to Vancouver, but it wouldn't shock me if Zeev Buium helps the Canucks hoist their first Stanley Cup. It will take a couple of Vancouver's own picks to hit(similar to the Dallas situation), but he could be part of a special team down the road.

Buium was supposed to be a top 10 pick in a strong draft. Quinn Hughes was the 8th pick in a somewhat weaker draft. He is very quick and skilled, but I'll need to see how the Wild do with him. I wonder if the defense will get worse and the offense will produce more, with a modest net improvement.

Just felt like the Wild needed another skilled forward A LOT more than they needed an offensive defenseman.

[Pewterschmidt]

14 minutes ago, Pablo said:

Today, we are a better team. 

Agree

[Pewterschmidt]

11 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Just felt like the Wild needed another skilled forward A LOT more than they needed an offensive defenseman.

This is where I’m at today too.  

[Pablo]

1 minute ago, Pewterschmidt said:

This is where I’m at today too.  

Points are points. They all score the same obviously. With Hughes on the ice 24min a game, it makes Yurov or any other C better. It makes our PP better and definitely our 5 on 5.  It’s tough losing all the young guys but we are now a better team in 25 & 26.  St. Paul is gonna be rockin at another level!! 

[Neutral Zone Dangles]

22 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

Where’d you come from nim rod? Guess you’re too smooth brained to realize we lost a really good center when we’re short on centers.

Settle down Matty. I know you’re grieving, but that’s not kind. Also, a ‘really good center’ is a bit of an exaggeration. The Wild are now considered contenders, buckle up. 

[FredJohnson]

17 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

This should force H8 into next man up.  I don’t H8 that. Heyo!

Noice!! 🤣😂

[raithis]

On 12/12/2025 at 10:34 PM, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I'm getting at the Wild giving up more than they should have in this deal. They had multiple players under team control and Quinn Hughes is due for a new deal in 2027. The cost of that deal is going to be enormous and I don't know if he's good at defense. He's undersized and fast, but is he an all around player who drives winning?

Hughes is not currently a top 3 defenseman in the NHL, and I wanted to see a lot more of the young guys the Wild traded.

With fewer forwards to play in front of Pitlick, I think you'll see more of him. The Wild should have gotten more in return than just Hughes if they were giving up more than just Buium and Rossi. It would be different if Vancouver didn't need to trade Hughes, but they absolutely had to move him at some point, so I believe the Wild should have made a deal that was better than this.

Vancouver is going to be bad this season, but this is going to be a huge boon for their rebuilding and in a few years, they could be fully restocked with high end talent.

I hope it goes better than it feels like it could, but I believe in the future of Buium more than the future of Quinn Hughes(beyond the next 2 seasons) and the Wild traded a lot to swap them.

I don't disagree that the Wild gave up a lot to make this trade (see my earlier comments about this topic), but with higher end talent and free agency/trade market being what it is, costs are going to be high.  Even a few years ago, the Matthew Tkachuk trade to Florida seemed like a lot for one player.  Players like Huberdeau and Weegar were more highly regarded that Rossi and Buium at the time too.  Unfortunately it takes a lot to pry those players away from teams.

I'm personally a little conflicted on the trade, though that's mostly about whether Guerin can get Hughes to sign an extension next season and the fact that the Wild had to part with so much of their better young players, but I can accept it.  I just really don't want to see Hughes walk or end up on the trade block next season so we don't lose all that for nothing.  Some people seem to think that the Wild can recoup that loss by trading Hughes or pick up players in free agency if he doesn't re-sign, but I don't think that will be the case.  If it's evident that Hughes only wants to play in New Jersey 2027-28, I don't see anyone sacrificing players as good as what was given up to secure a rental.  And while I also think that Quinn's presence helps make the Wild more of a free agent draw in this next off-season, I think his departure has the opposite effect.  It's a huge (Hughes) gamble, and I'm not a person who would make that kind of move, but that's also why I probably wouldn't make a good GM.  A couple days ago, I argued why trading for Hughes was a bad idea and I still think that's probably the case.  It all really hinges on whether he likes it here and is willing to stay.

[raithis]

13 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Just felt like the Wild needed another skilled forward A LOT more than they needed an offensive defenseman.

I don't disagree with this either, but having an offensive defenseman like Hughes should also get more out of the forwards we already have.  We were seeing that effect a bit with Buium on the ice.  I would think we would see that amplified up even more with Hughes.

[Gavan]

I sincerely wish your boy Rossi good luck in his new home. 

It's Quinn fucking Hughes. Wild now have the 5 or 6 big-time players (incl 2 or 3 future HoF'ers) plus big time goalie(s) required to compete for a Stanley Cup. 

Indisputably, this is all Guerin and is one of the greatest trades of all time. Period.

USA Hockey

[MacGyver]

I wonder if Hughes will skate right out of one of his skates on his first shift! 🤣

Seriously I think both teams have something to like and get excited about this trade and that's the way it should be. Not being a Billy fan I'm certain he did a little tampering with Hughes probably during the 4 Nations thing about possibly being here and signing on. That's Billy doing Billy things. If he didn't tamper or have some sort of assurance of Hughes resigning then he is as bug eyed crazy as I thought. 

Hughes is going to be in the Kaprizov position of, you will pay me what I want you to pay me when the time comes.  That's a lot of egg on the Wilds face if they don't pay up and he walks to New Jersey. If Boldy ratchets it up another notch he surpasses Kaprizov as the best player on the team. Boldy doesn't have the turnover problem and wins more battles than Kaprizov. Personally I think he is more creative with the puck than #97. If Hughes lives up to or goes beyond the hype here then he is the best player on the team with Boldy then #97. Wonder how #97 feels about that? So now you got $17M tied up in your third best player with your number one guy with the keys to your vault. It would be wise to win this thing this year or next for sure. 

Edited Sunday at 02:17 PM by MacGyver

[bisopher]

1 hour ago, MacGyver said:

I wonder if Hughes will skate right out of one of his skates on his first shift! 🤣

I was wondering if anyone else would remember that 😅 Hopefully he can keep both skates on and get a point (or two).