The Vancouver Canucks pulled off one of the biggest trades of the 2025-26 NHL season a little over three months ago in December, trading away team captain and former Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild.
In return, the Canucks received forward Marco Rossi, defenseman Zeev Buium, forward Liam Öhgren, and a 2026 first-round draft pick.
The fortunes of both teams since the trade couldn’t be more opposite, as the Wild have cruised toward a postseason spot thanks in large part to the play of Hughes, while the Canucks were the first team officially eliminated from postseason contention, and currently sit in last place in the Western Conference.
Not only are Canucks fans miserable at how their fortunes have changed only two short years after winning the Pacific Division, but now, they’ve got a bone to pick with Hughes based on his recent comments that left several in Vancouver fuming.
Former Vancouver Canucks Team Captain Quinn Hughes Offered Some Eyebrow-raising Comments
The Canucks will play the Wild for the first time since their franchise-altering trade in December, and naturally, Hughes was asked about facing several of his former teammates for the first time.
What he said rubbed many Canucks fans the wrong way.
“Honestly, I don’t even really know a lot of their guys,” he said. “Obviously, I played with some of the young guys there for three or four months, but a lot of the guys I was there with for the meat of my six years aren’t there.”
There is plenty of truth to Hughes’ comments, considering that only five players in Vancouver’s current lineup were part of the team that advanced to the deciding game of the 2024 Western Conference Semifinal against the Edmonton Oilers in Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Filip Hronek, Teddy Blueger, and Nils Höglander, showing the massive turnover in the Canucks’ roster since then.
Still though, that didn’t stop Canucks fans from unleashing on Hughes on X, formerly known as Twitter.
One fan wrote, “Ya because you were one of the worst leaders in nhl history and didnt create any culture on the team.”
Another fan invoked several former Canucks captains by saying, “Maybe if you like I don’t know had them over for dinner or held team events like Naslund, Horvat and Linden did you would know them. He’s made it really easy for the fanbase to move on. Good riddance Quitt Hughes.”
This fan hoped for some physical retribution against Hughes, saying, “Hope anyone in a Canucks jersey catches him with his head down and smokes him out of his boots. A repeat of Myers on Keith would suffice.”
Finally, this fan said, “This is a pretty sad response. Being the captain it’s literally your job to know these guys.”
Quinn Hughes Faces The Canucks For The First Time
Vancouver’s visit to Minnesota marks the first time since the monumental December trade that Hughes will play against the Canucks in his NHL career.
Canucks fans can’t help but wonder how things could have been different had the club managed to build on their coming within a single victory of the Western Conference Final just two seasons ago rather than seemingly falling down a hill from that point on.
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