NHL Notebook: Canucks trade Quinn Hughes to Wild

Hughes’ name had been in trade rumours as of late, being connected to the Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, and a handful of other teams. The Wild came out of nowhere to land one of the league’s best defencemen.

It’s been a tough season for the left-shot defenceman, at least by his stands, as he has just two goals and 23 points in 26 games, after scoring 16 goals and 76 points in 68 games last season. The season before that was his career best, as Hughes scored 17 goals and 92 points in 82 games as the Canucks finished first in the Pacific Division in 2023-24.

With just a season and a half on his contract, the Wild cannot extend Hughes until Jul. 1 of next year, so there is some significant risk in making this trade. That said, the Wild are beginning to look like one of the strongest teams in the league.

It was a haul to give up for Hughes. Buium made his NHL debut in the 2025 playoffs, but started the 2025-26 season on the Wild’s roster. In 31 games, the 20-year-old left-shot defenceman has three goals and 14 points in 31 games. Öhgren was the Wild’s 19th overall pick in 2022, and he has just three goals and seven points through 46 NHL games so far in his young career.

The most experienced piece going to the Canucks is Rossi. Drafted ninth overall in the 2020 draft, Kevin Bahl’s former teammate scored a career-high 24 goals and 60 points last season, with two goals and three points in six post-season games. The Canucks finally get their second-line centre they’ve been after, but lost their franchise defenceman in the process.

Bo Horvat out week-to-week

It’s not the first time the Canucks have traded a captain, as back in 2023, they sent Bo Horvat to the New York Islanders. Well, the centre will be out week-to-week after leaving Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury.

It’s a tough loss for the Islanders, as Horvat was on pace to have the best season of his career. Through 31 games played this season, he had 19 goals and 31 points. That’s on pace for 48 goals and 79 points over the course of 82 games, which would smash his career-best of 38 goals and 70 points he had set in 2022-23.

After missing the playoffs in 2024-25, the Islanders won the draft lottery to land Matthew Schaefer, turning their fortunes around rather quickly. In 32 games this season, the Islanders are 18-11-3, giving them 39 points. They are just one point back (with two additional games played) of the Carolina Hurricanes for top in the Metropolitan Division.

Connor Bedard left Friday’s game with injury

In the final second of Friday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard was tangled up on a faceoff and left the ice in some discomfort.

Bedard was drafted first overall by the Blackhawks in the 2023 with plenty of hype. His first two seasons in the league were good, but not great, scoring 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games in his rookie season, and  23 goals and 67 points in 82 games in his sophomore season.

Finally, it looks like the right-shot centre is living up to the promise. Through 31 games this season, the 20-year-old has 19 goals and 44 points. Bedard is on pace for 50 goals and 116 points, and has arguably positioned himself to earn a spot on Team Canada’s Olympic roster in February.

Hopefully, it’s a lot less serious than it looks.