In today’s NHL rumour rundown, we look at the timeline that brought Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild in Friday’s blockbuster deal. We will also look at some of the other rumours that broke about Hughes and some connections to other teams, some contract extension things, and more.
Quinn Hughes to Minnesota – The Timeline & Tidbits
Of course, the biggest thing out of Dec. 12 was the Hughes blockbuster. There haven’t been any leaks or reports that the Wild were in any talks with the Vancouver Canucks about the superstar defenseman, but when Elliotte Friedman posted, “Breaking: Quinn Hughes is being traded to Minnesota”, the hockey world went crazy.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported that the deal comes with no assurance that Hughes is planning on extending. This was a deal between the general managers. Bill Guerin, who headlines most of the major Team USA teams, knows Hughes quite well. There is a good history between the two.
There is a lot of risk when bringing in a player of this magnitude, and he could, in theory, end up being flipped if he doesn’t re-sign with the club.
During the post-trade press conference from Patrik Allvin, it was shared that Hughes was unlikely to re-sign with the Canucks, and they wanted to do right by the player, but do right by themselves, too, and that right now was going to be the peak of his value.
Guerin reportedly called Jim Rutherford last week and put an offer on the table that nobody was coming close to matching.
Related: Wild Acquire Quinn Hughes From Canucks in Blockbuster Trade
When moving a player like Hughes, it is nearly impossible to “win” the trade right away, but looking at the value Guerin offered up, the Canucks did very well in this deal.
The New Jersey Devils, the obvious leading candidate in trade rumours, would have had to have an offer of similar value. To match the Wild’s offer, that would probably look like Dawson Mercer, Simon Nemec, a first-round pick, and a player with similar value to Liam Ohgren – is that Shane Lachance? Or is it Lenni Hameenaho?
Wild Moving Very Talented Pieces
A lot of people will look at the Canucks side of this deal and the true value of what they gave up in the deal, but Minnesota lost some huge pieces.
With Marco Rossi being the centre heading to Vancouver in the deal, Russo spoke with him not long after the deal was made. There has been what could be described as some tension between Rossi and the Wild when it comes to his role on the team and contract disagreements.
The connection between Rossi and the Canucks isn’t something fresh. Every time his name comes up, the mention of the Canucks quickly follows. Their centre core is abysmal, and Rossi fits their mantra well.
Russo reports that Guerin has spoke to the Canucks about many deals, including one for Rossi earlier in the season, as well as some about Kiefer Sherwood, which included Ohgren in the deal, but the Canucks turned down both offers.
Eventually, the two sides went with a blockbuster instead, and included both Ohgren and Rossi.
Arguably, the biggest asset the Wild are giving up is Zeev Buium. He is a winner. With four gold medals and an NCAA championship, he has done very well in his young career. He is a polarizing offensive defenseman who has a ceiling not far off from where Hughes is. Does he get there? Maybe not, but he is still a very great asset.
Moving Forward After the Blockbuster
What is next for the Canucks? Do they go into a full fire-sale and tear the team down for a rebuild, or do they look to build off of this trade and move forward?
For the Wild, what’s next is winning. Hughes is joining Brock Faber, Jonas Brodi, Jared Spurgeon, two thriving goalies in Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt, and of course, superstar Kirill Kaprizov. The Wild want to win a Stanley Cup.
Chris Johnston noted that while the Wild don’t have a pair of his brothers to convince him to stay, they are able to offer the most enticing contract extension.
Guerin has shown he isn’t afraid to hand out money when it is earned with Kaprizov’s NHL-record extension. With the collective bargaining agreement update, contract structures are getting less favourable with the players, the Wild can be the only team able to give him eight years, as well as having it front-loaded with unlimited bonuses. Money talks.
There are a lot of rumours coming out of this deal, and there are certainly more to come out, but that is an overwhelming amount of reports already.
Quick Reports – Nemec Injured & Adams on Thin Ice?
The Devils have lost a lot of man-games to injury, and they can now add Simon Nemec to the list. Head coach Sheldon Keefe stated that Nemec is going to miss some significant time, and that his is more than “day-to-day”. Nemec suffered an undisclosed injury at practice on Dec. 12. Defensemen Jonathan Kovacevic and Brett Pesce are also out.
For the Buffalo Sabres, after years of consistent inconsistencies, the clock is ticking on Kevyn Adams as the general manager. Matthew Fairburn reported that the club is holding internal conversations about the destiny for their general manager. The club brought in Jarmo Kekalainen to work alongside him, and he could be the replacement. Adams is with the team on a road trip and set to return home on Monday, Dec. 15, and will make their decision then.
