GM Patrik Allvin met with the media following the Quinn Hughes trade.
The Vancouver Canucks made a franchise-altering trade on Friday as they dealt Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild. While trade rumours surrounding Hughes had been circulating over the past week, Minnesota was not one of the rumoured destinations for the Norris Trophy-winning defenceman. As expected, the move has left many in the fanbase shocked, as not only was Hughes the captain, but one of the best players in franchise history.
After the trade was complete, GM Patrik Allvin met with the media to discuss the move. He was first asked about a timeline of how this trade came together. As Allvin explained, making this move was difficult, but the organization is excited for the pieces coming back.
"It's definitely not an easy day for the franchise here," said Allvin. "Quinn Hughes has been a big part of the organization, and a great person and great hockey player. Has a lot of records. Tough, tough, tough day. But we're also excited about the return of the players we got here, the younger players and continue to build with them from Minnesota. Obviously, a deal like this doesn't come through on just one day. It's been going on for a couple of weeks here, where we felt that this is, unfortunately, where we're heading with Quinn, and trying to get to maximize the return for Quinn Hughes."
Rumours of Hughes potentially not re-signing have been circulating since before the season started. While he did have a year and a half left on his deal, there was a big question mark on if the 26-year-old was even interested staying with the franchise long-term. According to Allvin, this process started even before the 2025-26 season started, with the Canucks hoping that Hughes would show interest in re-signing once his deal was up.
"I believe this is something that 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. 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 destination that would be out there, and what potential teams that can come up with the best return for the Vancouver Canucks moving forward."
In exchange for Hughes, Vancouver received a 2026 first-round pick, center Marco Rossi, winger Liam Öhgren and defenceman Zeev Buium. Of the four assets, Buium is arguably the centrepiece as he is a 20-year-old left-shot defender who was drafted 12th overall in 2024. When asked about Buium, Allvin spoke about how excited the organization is to get a young player of his skill level.
"Zeev is a young defenseman that won two World Juniors, won the national championship in Denver. He's an extremely talented, offensive-minded defenseman that, in a very short period of time here, experienced a playoff last year when he was done in Denver and stepping right into the National Hockey League, playing for Minnesota, and then following up here this year. He looks stronger, more composed. Our scouting staff had followed him and are very excited in the path that is coming. He is still very young, and we know that for defensemen, it takes some time, but he definitely has the ability to quarterback a power play here, and we're really excited to continue to work with him."
As for where the team is right now, it appears the Canucks are focused on building for the future. The word rebuild was even used in the press release announcing the trade. When asked about the current state of the team, Allvin pointed out how many young players are in the organization and mentioned the plan moving forward.
"We were excited about the youth that we got in return here, and we kind of retooling, rebuilding. One thing that we always try to do here has been trying to bring in players that are 25 and younger and will continue to grow here. We have a lot of younger players in our lineup here due to injuries that might have been forced in a little bit earlier than we projected, but they've done really well. Our coaching staff will continue to to teach and work with the younger players here and continue to grow as they're as we as we move along here. But definitely, the plan is to use our first-round pick and draft as of now."
Allvin was also asked if there are culture issues within the group based on everything that has happened over the last year. Since the end of January, Vancouver was forced to trade both J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes, while Rick Tocchet departed during the off-season. While Allvin did not give a detailed answer other than saying he doesn't believe there is a culture issue, he did speak on the team's decline since the end of the 2023-24 season.
"I thought we had a great team. We had a great run. We're very excited where we were, and unfortunately, things happened, and you got to be able to adapt, adjust, retool, and I think we that's what we started with last year in the trade. And unfortunately, today, here was another step in that direction. Try to get the new wave, new younger players in here, and start to continue to build a championship team."
Lastly, Allvin was asked if he had a message for the fans. Since the trade was announced, social media has been flooded with opinions about not just the trade but the entire organization. In his answer, Allvin once again spoke about the future and how excited the fanbase should be.
"Well, I think they should be excited about the youth that's coming in here, and they should be excited about the championship in Abbotsford last year, and the growth of those players. You see them in the lineup here today, and I can't say enough about the fans in Rogers (Arena) and the support for the team. They're sharing every night, and the players feel it. I think the resiliency and the compete has been here for the team going through adversity with injuries, and we'll just continue to build a franchise championship team here with younger players and continue to push forward."
Ultimately, this trade is going to sting for a while. Hughes is arguably one of the most talented players in franchise history and was traded in the middle of his prime. The question that will be asked for years now is what went wrong, and did the Canucks get enough for their captain?
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