The Minnesota Wild have acquired celebrity defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks, the groups introduced on Friday. After weeks of hypothesis about Hughes’ future, the Wild have swooped in and landed one of many NHL’s finest defensemen.

In change for Hughes, Minnesota despatched middle Marco Rossi, winger Liam Ohgren, rookie defenseman Zeev Buium and a 2026 first-round decide again to Vancouver. That is fairly the haul, however it could be a worthwhile threat for Wild common supervisor Invoice Guerin, who’s making an attempt to assist his group hit the subsequent stage.

The No. 7 total decide within the 2018 NHL Draft, Hughes has turn into a top-two defenseman within the league, alongside Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche. Hughes can get it carried out in all three zones as an elite playmaker on offense, a robust puck provider by the impartial zone and an clever defender who performs greater than his 5-foot-10 body.

In his 459 profession video games with the Canucks, Hughes has totaled 61 objectives and 371 assists. Because the begin of the 2021-22 season, Hughes leads all defensemen with 285 assists, and he ranks second in factors with 335. After posting 92 factors in 2023-24, Hughes received the Norris Trophy because the NHL’s finest defenseman.

Hughes has yet another season remaining on his contract at $7.85 million per season, a discount at his present worth. Subsequent summer season, Hughes will turn into eligible for a contract extension, and he’ll get a staggering increase.

Now final within the league standings, the Canucks could have gotten the sense that it will be troublesome to signal Hughes to a long-term extension previous to the summer season of 2027. As commerce rumors grew to become an more and more giant distraction, president of hockey operations Jim Rutheford selected to kickstart the rebuild.

To that finish, he was comparatively profitable. Rossi is an undersized however extraordinarily expert middle who’s beneath contract for the subsequent two seasons at an affordable $5 million cap hit. Rossi, the No. 9 total decide in 2020, simply posted 60 factors final season.

Buium is one other former first-round decide — the No. 12 total choice in 2024 — and he is managed to flash a number of upside in simply 31 profession video games. Buium has struggled with consistency, as all younger gamers do, however he may develop right into a top-pairing defenseman for the Canucks.

If all goes in response to plan for Minnesota, that 2026 first-round decide will not be very excessive, however it’s one other asset Vancouver can use to inventory its prospect pool because the franchise enters a brand new period.

The Canucks additionally obtained Ohgren, one more first-round decide, who has but to point out a lot on the NHL stage.

Commerce grades

Minnesota Wild

Guerin seemingly winced when finalizing this deal. Rossi and Buium might be superb gamers for a very long time — and first-round picks are additionally precious — however the juice is definitely worth the squeeze on this one. Groups can seek for years and never discover a defenseman of Hughes’ caliber, and the 26-year-old continues to be ascending towards his peak.

To place it merely, the Canucks have been a dominant group when Hughes was within the recreation. Because the begin of the 2023-24 season, Vancouver owned a 54.1% anticipated objectives share and a plus-40 objective differential when Hughes was on the ice at five-on-five, per Pure Stat Trick. Now think about his offensive manufacturing and a particularly heavy workload, and people numbers solely look much more spectacular. Hughes is a uncommon participant, and Minnesota capitalized on a golden alternative.

As for what Hughes will appear like with the Wild, I’d like to see him play alongside fellow American Brock Faber. Whereas Faber has proven the potential to turn into a fantastic shutdown defenseman, he would not present sufficient offense to be a high-end No. 1. Pair him with Hughes, nonetheless, and Minnesota may have a top-five pairing on its palms.

If there’s any disadvantage in any respect for the Wild, it is that the lack of Rossi makes them comparatively skinny at middle within the short-term. Perhaps Danila Yurov develops into a top quality substitute for Rossi, however he isn’t there simply but. Nonetheless, Rossi most likely has a second-line ceiling. Whereas it is not essentially a breeze to seek out these gamers, it is a lot simpler to amass them than celebrity defensemen. Grade: A

Vancouver Canucks

It appeared just like the Canucks have been resigned to the truth that Hughes would not signal an extension with them earlier than hitting free company in 2027. Perhaps that was the message they obtained from Hughes, however I am stunned they did not make a pair extra runs at persuading him over the subsequent 18 months. Hughes was the face of the franchise, and this deal will clearly set off a giant step again.

By way of the return, let’s simply be blunt. It is almost unimaginable to recoup the worth of any celebrity in a commerce. Vancouver would have been hard-pressed to seek out a good deal, and it did not. That mentioned, it may have been a lot worse if the Canucks merely obtained bored with commerce rumors and dealt him to the New Jersey Devils for a lesser bundle.

Buium is the large get right here, for my part. The 20-year-old nonetheless has a number of growing to do, however he has a ton of upside. Buium led the College of Denver to a nationwide championship in 2024, and he posted 48 factors in 41 video games final season. Placing Hughes-level expectations on Buium can be unfair, however he might be a key piece of Vancouver’s blue line for a very long time.

Rossi generally is a high quality second-line middle, and he can be a great match with the Canucks if Elias Pettersson manages to get again on observe after an underwhelming final 92 video games. Rossi flashed his playmaking potential in 2024-25 whereas notching 24 objectives, 36 assists and 60 factors. Once more, Rossi is probably not a future celebrity, however he might be a key contributor for the subsequent decade.

Ohgren looks as if extra of a throw-in right here as a result of he hasn’t fairly hit his stride on the NHL stage. He has but to tally some extent in 18 video games this season. He could be a lottery ticket for Vancouver.

The primary spherical decide will assist the Canucks add extra expertise to their pipeline, which could get a serious inflow of expertise with the group on observe to get the No. 1 decide in 2026. The lack of Hughes will sting for some time, however this deal does lay the groundwork for a robust future. Grade: C+