The Minnesota Wild have acquired Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in the biggest blockbuster trade of the NHL season.

Minnesota sent center Marco Rossi, winger Liam Ohgren, defenseman Zeev Buium and a first-round pick in the 2026 draft to suddenly rebuilding Vancouver.

Hughes was the 2024 Norris Trophy winner as the league’s top defenseman and is considered the best at the position behind Colorado’s Cale Makar. 

Our Darren ‘Doogie’ Wolfson caught up Friday night with Minnesota hockey legend, former North Stars GM, and Wild TV analyst Lou Nanne to analyze the trade, via Zoom.

***Click the video box above to watch our chat with Nanne***

Hughes has two goals and 21 assists for 23 points in 23 games this season with the last-in-the-NHL Canucks. He has been their captain since 2023, and his abrupt exit paves the way for more change in Vancouver 11 months since the trade of J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers and in the aftermath of coach Rick Tocchet’s departure.

“With the circumstances surrounding JT and now Quinn, we are fortunate to acquire these very good young players from Minnesota,” Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said. “They will be a key part of the rebuild that we are currently in, giving us a bright future moving forward. The hockey club will continue to build with talented young players using that as a blueprint to become a contender sooner rather than later.”

Minnesota cannot extend Hughes until July 1, and it’s unclear if he would entertain signing another contract. He had nothing in the way of trade protection on his current deal, paying him an average of $7.85 million annually, that would have allowed him to block a trade anywhere.

The Wild are taking a shot at challenging the two top teams in the NHL, Colorado and Dallas, in the Central Division, which also includes reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg. Hughes vastly upgrades their blue line, which already included captain Jared Spurgeon and smooth-skating Swede Jonas Brodin. Winger Kirill Kaprizov only this past fall signed the richest deal in hockey history to stay in the “State of Hockey” for eight more years.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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