In the midst of a disheartening stretch in the 2025-26 NHL season, Quinn Hughes voiced a clear message to Elias Pettersson and the rest of the Vancouver Canucks. With a lot to prove, the ’Nucks are feeling the weight on their shoulders as the fanbase demands results.

However, instead of crumbling under pressure, the Canucks must remain together and stay the course. Hughes is making sure his team is aware of that, voicing a confident message for Pettersson and company to listen to in a challenging NHL season.

“You can always find a way to be negative. Always. But you can always find a way to be positive, too,” Hughes commented per Sportsnet. “But it’s obviously really hard to do because you’re frustrated, and it’s hard to flip a switch where nothing’s going to bother me today and I’m going to be completely positive.”

Hughes speaks from experience

Though much easier said than done, Vancouver can’t afford to dwell on its defeats for too long. Instead, the Canucks must turn the tide as they are approaching the bottom of the Pacific Division—far from their objective coming into the 2025-26 NHL season.

Elias Pettersson at Capital One Arena on October 19, 2025 in Washington, DC.

“I’ve been there at times this year where you’re on the negative side a bit, and you’ve just got to flip it and control what you can control. I mean, it’d be nice if we started 7-3, but we didn’t. Now we’re at where we’re at and just have to move on from here,” Hughes concluded. “Obviously, I’m never happy losing.”

For an organization still in search of its first Stanley Cup, languishing near the bottom of the standings after losing four of its last five games is far from what the Canucks expected. Something’s got to change for Hughes, Pettersson, and company, or the buzz in Vancity will grow uncontrollably.