It’s a question that many Vancouver Canucks fans have started to wonder about: Will Quinn Hughes sign long term when he’s eligible for an extension next offseason? Jim Rutherford has a pretty outside-the-box idea on how to pull that off.

When answering a question about keeping the eldest Hughes brother in Vancouver long-term, the Canucks’ president of hockey operations said:

“The one thing that we will be sure of is that we will have enough cap space to offer him the kind of contract that he deserves. That’s the one thing we can prepare for. And it may not boil down to money with him. He’s said before he wants to play with his brothers, and that would be partly out of our control, in our control, if we brought his brothers here. So there’s many moving parts here. [I] agree 100% this franchise cannot afford to lose a guy like Quinn Hughes, and we will do everything we can to keep him here. But at the end of the day, it’ll be it’ll be his decision.”

When asked a follow up, if he’d seriously consider trading for the Hughes brothers, Rutherford said:

“Well, we got to be careful with tampering here, so we’ll just leave it at that. I probably crossed the line anyways.”

Here is the clip:

Hughes will become eligible to sign a contract extension in July 2026, when he enters the final year of his current contract in Vancouver. When asked about his future on Friday, Hughes took the focus off of himself and said that everyone just wants to be part of a winning team.

“I think that everyone that’s here just wants to be a part of a winning team,” said Hughes. “I don’t think anyone’s too concerned about making me happy, just about being a successful organization. And I think that’s the main goal for everyone here. And definitely feel like we can do that.”

Jack Hughes is heading into year four of an eight-year deal with the Devils that sees him paid $8 million per season, while Luke is in need of a contract this summer after coming off of his entry-level contract. He is not offer sheet eligible.

Keep it locked on CanucksArmy all day for more news and reaction from management’s end of season media availability.