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Canucks: The pros and cons of the Quinn Hughes trade, two weeks later
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jacob Fraser
Dec 27, 2025, 17:45 ESTUpdated: Dec 27, 2025, 17:50 EST
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It’s been just over two weeks since the Vancouver Canucks dealt their captain and all-time defenceman scoring leader Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild. The blockbuster deal was arguably the biggest trade in the team’s 56-year history, sending a generational defenceman in or at least nearing his prime for Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren, and a 2026 first-round pick.
The decision to trade Hughes certainly didn’t come as a surprise; there had been plenty of rumours leading up to the trade, and there was some indication that he wasn’t likely to re-sign when his contract was up at the end of the 2026-27 season. 
It’s been said many times that the Canucks would never be able to “win” a Quinn Hughes trade. That being said, the return of Buium, Rossi, Öhgren, and a 2026 first isn’t something to complain about, especially when you consider the current state of this franchise. 
There were a ton of mixed reactions to the deal for various reasons, but it’s safe to say the overall response to the return was fairly positive. 
All of that being said, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of the trade.

Pros

The first pro is that the team brought in three good young players, along with a first-rounder. This gives fans a sense of direction from the franchise, something everyone has been asking for for years. Jim Rutherford said the word rebuild, although Patrik Allvin later called it a “hybrid re-tool” after the Canucks rattled off four wins, so do with that what you will. At the very least, we now know that the front office knows they aren’t good enough to compete and rather than taking chances on veterans, being stuck in the mushy middle, and hoping the team can get hot for a playoff run, they’re getting younger and attempting to develop these young players to build a true contender. 
This is a breath of fresh air, as we’ve seen other Canucks management regimes continuously attempt the quick fixes and retools that have helped the team win just two playoff rounds since their Stanley Cup Final loss in 2011. 
It’s been a long time coming, but this move certainly signals the team is learning from their mistakes and hopefully, is kicking this rebuild into high gear. 
The second pro is both the volume and quality of both the players and the pick the Canucks got back. Everyone saw the trade proposals on social media from other fan bases, people saying their team wouldn’t give up their top five prospects and young players for Hughes because he was “going to leave anyway”. Cough, cough, Devils fans.
Clearly, the Wild were serious and offered up the best defensive prospect in their pipeline in Buium, along with a proven 24-year-old second-line centreman in Rossi and a 21-year-old winger with lots of potential in Öhgren, plus a first-round pick in the upcoming NHL Draft. Given the draft position of these players, it essentially makes this deal four first round picks for Hughes. It’s a good haul. 
Buium has the potential to be something special on the Canucks blue line for a long time, Rossi has already proven he can handle a top-six role in Minnesota and will have even more opportunity to grow in Vancouver, and Öhgren is going to have a ton of chances to play bigger minutes than he likely would have seen with the Wild, and for that reason, is also going to have lots of opportunity to grow into a big contributor for the Canucks.
The first-round pick is another piece that the Canucks needed. With a fairly weak prospect pool, they get the chance to add some much-needed strength and organizational depth, particularly in a good draft year that 2026 is said to be. 
Overall, the return can certainly be considered a pro.
The final pro is that the team is better now. We’ve seen them go 4-1-0 since the trade, and adding Rossi in particular adds much-needed depth down the middle of the ice. 
No more David Kampf centring the first line. 
With a healthy Elias Pettersson as well, this team actually looks like a decent NHL roster, with two good top-six centremen and solid depth throughout the lineup.

Cons

Now, I realize I listed the team as being better now as a pro, and it is. Canucks hockey is more fun to watch when the team can compete and isn’t losing every game. Though it does need to be said that this could be viewed a con as well. This team isn’t going on a St. Louis Blues 2018-19 miracle run from last place to a Stanley Cup win. They might be good enough to pick outside of the top five, though, which would hurt them long term. This team is still nowhere near being competitive, and adding a top-five or even top top-three pick to the team would be huge in building for the future. 
The aforementioned depth, specifically down the middle, does threaten the Canucks’ tanking ability.
Another con that needs to be noted is the franchise’s failure to build around Quinn Hughes. They lucked into the greatest defenceman in franchise history, drafting him seventh overall in 2018. He played 459 games during his time in Vancouver, scoring 432 points, and yet the team couldn’t make it past the second round of the playoffs. 
Rather than building around this cornerstone piece, they kept getting themselves into trouble with the cap, rushed out of their retooling phase, and failed to build a team that could consistently qualify for the playoffs, let alone contend for the Stanley Cup.
The fact that the team had to move on from their captain is a failure and a con in itself.
The last con is the fact that this sets the timeline back. Canucks fans have been craving more of that playoff energy. They got a taste a couple of years ago and certainly want more. Who wouldn’t? It’s fun when your favourite team is competitive and winning games. Although the team wasn’t going anywhere this year, having Quinn Hughes on your team, you wouldn’t have been able to count them out for next year. Now that he’s gone, there’s no real telling as to when the Canucks can get back to the playoffs, but as mentioned in the pros, at least there is somewhat of a sense of direction here.

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