With the Canucks’ struggles, people are talking about a Quinn Hughes deal. We’ve heard about teams like the Flyers or Devils for obvious reasons, but one team I’d be curious for interest would be the Blackhawks. Could you see that happening without an extension? — @punmasterrifkin
It’s hard to characterize what a trade for Hughes would look like right now, and the impact his contractual situation would have on that trade. He can’t sign his next contract until July 1, so if the Canucks were to make him available this season, all teams looking to acquire the defenseman would be going in somewhat blind about Hughes’ future. Maybe the New Jersey Devils would be different because they also have his brothers, center Jack Hughes and defenseman Luke Hughes, and you have to assume that Quinn would want to stay with them. But beyond that, it’s hard to predict, which adds to what is already an intriguing, burgeoning storyline around the Vancouver captain.
The Blackhawks are an up-and-coming team and Hughes, at 26 years old and approaching 500 NHL games this season, fits into their short- and long-term plans. But I think it’s hard for them or any team to enter into trade discussions with the Canucks about Hughes without knowledge of his future plans. That’s not the Canucks’ concern, of course, but maybe it makes more sense for Hughes’ market if Vancouver waited until July 1, when the sign-and-trade becomes viable.
Remember, the Carolina Hurricanes made a blockbuster trade last season to acquire forward Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche. He was in the last year of his deal, so a contract with the Hurricanes was available. But they were banking on the ability to sell their organization, market, team and style of play to entice him to sign. It broke down because Rantanen didn’t want to stay there. So, the Hurricanes traded him to the Dallas Stars, who signed him to an eight-year, $96 million contract ($12 million AAV).
The Hurricanes have survived that, but they’re built to survive by how they play and the fact that they’re already a winning franchise. It would be a potentially massive fail for the Blackhawks to give up the assets it will take to acquire Hughes only to then have to trade him somewhere else. The Blackhawks are growing and getting better, but they’re not expected to be a Stanley Cup contender this season. It likely will be better for them to wait and hope the market for Hughes is still alive in the offseason, if there is a market for him at all. There’s risk in that, but that risk, at least to me, outweighs the uncertainty of acquiring him without the guarantee of a long-term contract.