Detroit Red Wings talk Quinn Hughes – and Santa Claus
Detroit Red Wings’ Todd McLellan & Patrick Kane, Dec. 13, 2025 in Detroit.
CHICAGO — The Detroit Red Wings were in on Quinn Hughes, but ultimately balked for one major reason.
That the 2024 Norris Trophy winner and former Michigan star would have looked good in red and white – “He  is one of the special players in the league that can, you know, take over a game individually,” fellow American Patrick Kane said – is indisputable. The Wings just saw the defenseman earlier on this trip, on Dec. 8 while Hughes was still with the Vancouver Canucks. But on Friday, Hughes was traded to the Minnesota Wild for a big return: Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium and Liam Öhgren – all recent first-round draft picks – and a 2026 first-round pick.
That’s a high price, but the Wings might have paid it had Hughes been willing to commit to re-signing – his current contract runs through 2026-27, so he’s eligible to be extended starting July 1, 2026 – but Hughes did not agree to that.
So, no Hughes for the Wings – still. They famously passed on him in the 2018 draft, taking Filip Zadina at No. 6 while the Canucks grabbed Hughes at No. 7. He has been a thorn in their side ever since.
“We saw firsthand how tough he is to defend the other night at the blue line, the way he moves, the way he kind of buys time, shakes and bakes up there,” Kane said.
“You hear a lot of rumors and Red Wings were part of that too, so I was definitely following to see what was going to happen.”
Wings coach Todd McLellan said he and general manager Steve Yzerman talk daily about various aspects of the team.
“Steve and I talk every day multiple times throughout the days and a lot of it spent talking about our team,” McLellan said. “Our jobs as a coaching staff is to get the most out of the players that we have. It’s working for some. Others, we haven’t got enough out of it.
“The one thing I’ve learned in this league, especially around Christmas, everybody’s like Santa Claus. They all have a wish list, but it doesn’t exist.”
The Wings haven’t had a Norris Trophy winner in their lineup since seven-time winner Nicklas Lidström retired in 2012.
“How much impact did Nick Lidstrom have on the Red Wings?” McLellan said. “He won multiple Norris trophies. But you don’t have to win [a Norris trophy] to have an impact on the team. I think [Moritz] Seider and Simon [Edvinsson] and Benny [Chiarot] and even Axe [Axel Sandin-Pellikka] in the now and in the future are going to have an impact on our team without winning the trophy. There’s a lot of good defensemen in the league.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
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