A pair of new teams has entered the Quinn Hughes sweepstakes with the Vancouver Canucks.

According to Daily Faceoff Insider David Pagnotta, the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals are two new teams that have checked in on the Canuck captain.

The Hurricanes and Capitals join the list of Eastern Conference teams that have been in contact with the Canucks regarding Hughes: the New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, and Philadelphia Flyers.

At the time of this writing, the Hurricanes and Capitals sit atop the Metropolitan Division standings, with the Capitals (18-9-3) one point ahead of the Hurricanes (18-9-2), who have a game in hand.

The Capitals have two defencemen (Jakob Chychrun and John Carlson) who rank in the top 10 in defensive scoring: Chychrun with 11 goals and 25 points, Carlson with six goals and 23 points. The Hurricanes have Shayne Gostisbehere, who is one point shy of Carlson with 22 points despite playing six fewer games.

Both teams have plenty of high-end young players, prospects, and draft capital to cover the premium price tag that comes with a Hughes trade.

Hughes, 26, has a respectable two goals and 22 points through 25 games this season. He’s currently averaging 27:19 minutes of ice time per game, which is the highest in the NHL by 41 seconds per game. The heavy ice time has resulted in a minus-nine rating for the Orlando, Florida native this season.

The left-shot defenceman has been held without a point over his last six games. This matches the longest stretch without a point for Hughes since the end of the 2022-23 season, where he was held pointless from April 2-11.

Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote shared after practice on Wednesday that the trade noise surrounding Hughes has started to creep into the Canucks locker room. While Hughes seems to be the focus of trade talk in Vancouver, the Canucks also sent a memo to the rest of the league, stating that the team has made its veteran players available for trade.

Until the first trade domino falls, the rumours will continue to swirl around the Vancouver Canucks.

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