Welcome back to WDYTT, the only hockey column on the internet officially endorsed by Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four.

Speaking of Grimm, things have been getting a bit grim around these parts of late, so let’s change up the mood for a moment or two today. Let’s shift the focus to the potentially brighter years ahead.

There’s been so much talk of trading veterans away from this Vancouver Canucks roster lately, and all with the hoped-for outcome of acquiring future-based assets in mind. But the Canucks already have their hands on some excellent prospects already, including a trio that is consistently listed as the team’s best future pieces.

Those prospects are Tom Willander, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and Braeden Cootes, and depending on which pundit’s opinion you’re reading, you might find them listed in any order among the team’s top three. But we’re not interested in some pundit’s opinion today. We’re far more interested in learning what you think.

All three of them have played for Vancouver this season, with only Willander having made a lasting impact thus far. But we’re not here to talk the present day, but the days to come. Of the three, we’re curious to know who you believe has the brightest future in the National Hockey League.

This week, we’re asking:

Let it be known in the comment section.

You answered below!

I think he will leave. Playing on a bottom feeder for years will be too soul-crushing for Hughes. Staying on a rebuilding team will be too difficult for him.

If you were here for eight seasons and only made the playoffs twice, would you stay? Hughes is the second-best defenceman in the world and he plays his heart out every night, yet his team is one point away from dead last in the entire league. Aside from one good year, the organization has failed to ice a competitive roster around him, and although their prospect pool has improved over the last four years, there isn’t any game-breaking talent on the way. I can’t think of any reason why Hughes would stay.

I think he goes and that this market is being prepped for a rebuild without using the word rebuild.

Moving veterans out now is a precursor to this eventually happening.

In the most “Canuck” thing ever for a suffering fanbase, the long-coveted Norris-winning defenseman almost has to go, and it’s probably his preference anyways . . . who knows other than him? The real question is if Management is capable of maximizing the return on his value. It will set the course for the next 5-10 years either way. From a timing perspective, the sooner the better. If they can get quality young players that hit, and fully embrace this horrific start to the season, then with a little lottery luck, one could dare to dream for new youthful talent to compliment the still relatively young veteran core, minus Quinn. 🙁

As I said on a different article Canuck fans have started blaming Hughes for where the team is. Nobody eats their young as quickly as Canuck fans do. I’ve read he’s a bad teammate…a bad captain….and on and on it goes.

I hope he gets the hell outta Vancouver for his own sake. When you have to trade your best player, you are likely going to lose that trade.

Anyone thinking Quinn will stay is delusional. He wants to win. The Canucks are a last place team with no practice facility, onerous travel, and high income tax. Then there’s the story about playing with his brothers.

He’s been a great player and should bring a great return. God bless Quinn.

I’d say it’s about 50/50, but if I had to pick, I would bet that he gets traded by the deadline this year. He becomes a UFA in 2027, so his value will be significantly less if they wait until the offseason or next season to trade him.

A truly great player, Norris trophy winner, a solid captain, good person. As much as I would like him to stay, this team will be one of the worst Canucks teams in decades.

So for the future of the franchise, he will have to be traded.

My guess is management will see where they are picking in the draft and then trade him…even though his value is likely higher now since teams will get two playoff runs out of him.

Realistic thoughts are he will stay this year, and between April and the draft he will decide what’s up. I don’t think the decision from Hughes’ view is as cut and dried as others do.

I expect that Huggy will make the same mistake as McD and show “loyalty” to the organization when the right answer from a career and Quinn Hughes perspective would be for him to run, not walk, from these incompetents. Run hard, and run far …

The conundrum for management is that QH cannot commit to a new deal until after this season, but between now and then the return for him in a trade will, in my opinion, diminish significantly.

I just cannot see anything that the team can do, either roster-management-wise or on-ice results-wise that will give QH any confidence that the team will be a legitimate contender in the next several years. There are just no players on the team or in the system now that can carry a team through the playoffs, and adding one more first rounder and a few more prospects in 2026 won’t be enough.

QH will get more money than he will ever need from almost any of the league’s 32 teams, so money is not a factor. Indeed, he might even pull a McDavid to sign with a true contender by leaving money on the table to be reinvested in a stronger roster. That isn’t, and won’t be, the Canucks.

I suspect that they will wait until the draft order is established. If the Canucks end up winning the right to draft Gavin McKenna, he may want to stick around and be part of that new core. In the much more likely scenario in which the Canucks pick in the 7-12 range, he will probably be dealt for a return that includes at least one pick in this year’s draft, among other “retool” assets, because that is the never-ending refrain from management at the behest of ownership.

Bob Smithers:
Hughes isn’t going to sign. Why would he?

Do the honourable thing, and trade him to a contender.

He doesn’t deserve the torture of an inept GM, President, or Owner.

Hughes has played stoically. Honour him!

He’s gone by the end of the Olympic break.

Well before I decided to make a prediction, I made sure I put fresh batteries in my crystal ball, lol.

With a strong draft it would seem the appetite to extend Hughes vs. shiny new toys they can acquire will lead to Hughes being traded either at the deadline or at the draft to move up and get the player or players they want.

His value can give the team some manner of control via trade, which takes some risk out of the equation being able to somewhat predict where you will draft.

Also will open up cap space for future acquisitions or signings, giving the team financial flexibility and, for this fan, these conditions make a trade for Hughes all the more likely.

burnabybob:
The salary cap really complicates a potential Hughes trade. I hope that if they do trade him, the Canucks find a partner looking to get a bad contract off their books. The Canucks are nowhere close to being a contender, so it doesn’t matter if they take on a 2-3 year anchor contract, and it could enhance the return.

Quinn Hughes will want to go. The teams performance has cratered and he really wants to win.

The appeal of playing with his brothers is too great, so I don’t think the Canucks can create a situation where he will sign and stay.

I believe Canucks will be forced to trade Hughes.

I’m not sure if this is a case of cruelty to Quinn, the fans, or animals? Neither Quinn nor the fans want to see endless years of missing the playoffs. FO haven’t been able to trade for top-six forwards of significance that are going to change that path. Unfortunately, Quinn has to go. Preferably before the 2026 TDL so we can accumulate (maximum) options to finally change our path.

54 years on…..?:
I cannot think of one good reason for QHs to stay. The roster itself is always in transition with no obvious long term vision.

The front office operates in a manner that always seems to amp up the drama with every move they make.

Billionaire owners that can’t get a practice facility past the “planning” stage.

As the team moves backwards in the standings, management refuses to even consider rebuilding in any meaningful way.

With all the negativity that ALWAYS swirls around this organization, the most significant casualty is “hope.” Ownership and management don’t get it, but I will bet QHs does. There are zero reasons for him to stick around for more of this.

Hughes is such a talent, I really hope Canucks find a way to keep him.

He is still young. Rebuilds still need vets. This team can be drastically changed in 2-3 years.

That said, the Canucks do not deserve Hughes to stick around. Owner and management have sealed their own fate IMO. Eight years of Hughes, two playoffs, plenty of time to build a proper winner.

Why on earth would Hughes think they can build a winner now going forward?

Canucks won’t move him this season. Too stubborn and busy re-tooling for the ninth season.

Michael D:
I can’t speak for Quinn, but I wouldn’t sign an extension with the Canucks under the current regime.

Hopefully he stays, but it seems more like ‘when he will leave’ as opposed to ‘if he will leave.’ My suggested question is, when is the best time for the Canucks to trade Hughes? I think there is a good argument for trading him at the deadline (at least two playoffs), but after July 1st, the Canucks can sign and trade him.

Quinn will stay.

He is the Captain and I’m quite sure that he doesn’t take that lightly. I would bet he takes more responsibility on himself than blaming the organization as a whole, especially last year’s personality clash. With a very young team and injuries to key players, Quinn looks at the whole, not a part. A lost year with some lottery luck can change the direction of the team. McKenna is a talent for sure, but there are also a couple of talented centers in the top-five to pair with Cootes.

The only way Quinn would leave is if the team risked futures for an aging player like Kadri, only for that to make no difference. Starting next year, hopefully the farm system is a lot deeper, and young players like Johnny L and Tommy W are set in the NHL.

If management gives him a contract offer that pays him close to $20m/yr, he will stay. Funnily enough, if they pay him that much, it will force them to shed salary and dump some of the overpaid scrubs on the team, and force them to be fiscally responsible, while also maximizing draft capital instead of trading it away for useless players that couldn’t crack a lineup on a normal team.

Not hard to think of reasons why Hughes may want to seek greener pastures. Not hard to think of reasons management may want him to stay. Fans really have no idea of what the relationship is or how Hughes feels about management or his role with the team. What I do believe is Hughes will want a long-term contract. He and his advisors will look at the Canucks and other teams based on how they expect the team to do over the term of a long-term contract.

Hughes might not mind going to a true contender for a short time but those teams will have the most trouble adding him and likely already have a good D-man playing a similar role. The huge cost isn’t worth the margin of upgrade.

Hughes understands any team able to give him a long-term contract is not currently a contending team. With that comes the expectation Hughes will be the difference maker.

From the Canucks perspective, if Hughes is prepared to stay, the longer he waits to commit, the more power he has in negotiation. Can’t imagine anyone is thrilled with how that has turned out so far with Pettersson.

Poor team performance, a mediocre prospect pool, weak short-to-medium-term outlook, proximity to family, and management’s need to reduce uncertainty and chart a path forward probably add up to more than what might go onto the “he stays” side of the ledger. Once that conclusion is reached, it’s to everyone’s advantage to move quickly.