It has been a long season for the Vancouver Canucks even though the team has not reached the halfway point of the schedule. The Canucks had high hopes as the season got underway, but the reality is that they find themselves in last place in the Pacific Division with a 13-17-3 record.
Early in the year, rumors swirled around the team that significant changes were on the way. One of the rumors involved star defenseman Quinn Hughes, and it appeared that he would not sign a new deal with the team when his contract was up after the 2026-27 season. While the Canucks appeared to have plenty of time to change his mind, trade rumors involving multiple teams appeared to pick up strength in November and early December.
The Minnesota Wild was not among the most prominent teams mentioned for a potential trade, but Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin acquired Hughes from the Canucks last week. The trade apparently means that the Canucks are going to have to rebuild or at least retool before they will have a chance to become a contending team again.
Trade has huge impact on Hughes' former teammates.
Forward Brock Boeser was one of Hughes' best friends on the team, and he spoke about the impact of the trade from both a personal and on-ice perspective.
“I know there’s a few of us, especially myself — I was feeling so many different emotions, because he’s one of my best buddies on the team and such an important piece,” Boeser said, per The Athletic. “Couldn’t really explain. I was sad. I was mad. I was happy for him. It was just a ton of emotions.
“We’re happy for him, but then again, it was hard to just take it all in and really fully comprehend that he wasn’t going to be with us the next day.”
