The Quinn Hughes era is over in Vancouver.
The Vancouver Canucks are trading Hughes to the Minnesota Wild, the franchise announced Friday. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported the news.
The Canucks received Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren, Zeev Buium and a 2026 first-round pick in return.
Hughes was drafted by the Canucks in 2018, named captain in 2023 and won the Norris Trophy in 2024.
He had recorded 23 points (two goals, 21 assists) in 26 games of his eighth season in Vancouver, after which he is signed for one more year at a relative bargain salary of $7.85 million.
The Canucks are currently sitting at the bottom of the Pacific Division following a 11-17-3 start to the 2025-26 season.
Vancouver will now hope adding young players and draft pick will help the franchise retool without its captain and top defender.
Rossi has regularly centered the Wild’s top line over the last two seasons, although the 24-year-old is currently sidelined with a week-to-week injury.
Öhgren, 21, was skating on the Wild’s third line, while 20-year-old Buium was on the team’s bottom pairing.
The Wild, which rank third in the Central with a 17-9-5 record, parted ways with all three and a first-rounder in order to bring in one of the NHL’s top defenders.
After ensuring Kirill Kaprizov would stay in Minneapolis by signing him to an historic extension, the Wild are hoping the addition of Hughes will take this team from perennial playoff first-round eliminations to Stanley Cup contention.
Earlier speculation had tied Hughes to the New Jersey Devils, the franchise that has signed his brothers Jack and Luke Hughes to long-term deals. Friedman said earlier this week the Devils and Canucks had held conversations about Hughes.
Instead Hughes will go to Minnesota, where he could potentially skate on a top defense pairing with 2024 Calder Trophy finalist Brock Faber.
The Wild now have a superstar scorer in Kaprizov and an elite defenseman in Hughes. Continued dominance from Jesper Wallstedt, who currently leads the league with a .936 save percentage and 1.95 goals against average in his first season as a full-time NHL goaltender, could be enough to make this team a contender to make it out of the West.
