One of the most difficult days in the history of the Vancouver Canucks as an organization came to pass on Friday evening, as fans were stunned by the news of a trade of team captain Quinn Hughes to a team in the Western Conference rather than out East, where he had been linked to a number of clubs.
Instead, the Canucks dealt Hughes to the Minnesota Wild and received a substantial haul in return. In exchange for Hughes, the Wild sent forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren, defenseman Zeev Buium and a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft back to the Canucks.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin, who was unable to convince Hughes to sign an extension to remain with the club that selected him in the first round (seventh overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft, explained that he began the process of looking for trade partners when it was clear that an extension wasn’t coming.
“You probably go back even a year ago, when this started to come to our attention that this might be the path that Quinn wants to go,” Allvin said. “We were hoping, the ownership was trying to do everything, and we were trying to do everything to convince him to stay and work through it. But we felt that when we were not able to do it, that’s where we started the process of looking to see what potential destinations would be out there and what potential teams that could come up with the best return for the Vancouver Canucks moving forward.”
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Does Patrik Allvin believe The Vancouver Canucks have a culture problem?
Allvin was asked directly if he believes that the trade was part of a larger culture problem within the organization, which has seen an uptick of internal strife between players in recent seasons.
However, Allvin answered that he doesn’t believe there’s an issue with the overall club culture.
“I don’t believe (we have a culture problem),” Allvin told reporters Friday. “I don’t think that’s the reason why Quinn Hughes is traded here today. I have a lot of respect for J.T. Miller as well, what he went through on his personal side. We’re very excited with the leadership group and what (head coach) Adam (Foote) is building here, the players we got in through the draft over the last couple of years, and how they integrated with our team here.”
Great players in the history of the Canucks have come and gone as they have for every team in professional sports, but Canucks fans are left feeling understandably empty inside following this deal.
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The Canucks couldn’t make it work with Quinn Hughes
Canucks fans will look back at the era of Hughes with their organization feeling unfulfilled, as it’s hard to imagine that they weren’t ever able to advance farther than the Western Conference semifinal with him on their roster.
There might not ever be a defenseman like Hughes to suit up again any time soon for the Canucks, and the substantial trade package that they got in return for him from the Wild isn’t doing much to console them right now.
However, Allvin believes they were able to maximize the value they could get in return for Hughes.
“Obviously, a deal like this doesn’t come through on just one day,” Allvin said. “It’s been going on for a couple weeks here, where we’ve felt this is unfortunately where we’re heading with Quinn, and trying to get that to maximize the return for Quinn Hughes.”
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