Minnesota Wild acquires NHL star Quinn Hughes from Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade

The Minnesota Wild made an all-in move for one of the NHL’s best players in his prime, acquiring defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade — their boldest action yet toward ending a decade-long skid of playoff series defeats

The Minnesota Wild made an all-in move for one of the NHL’s best players in his prime, acquiring defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade — their boldest action yet toward ending a decade-long skid of playoff series defeats.

The teams announced the seismic move on Friday night, after the 2024 Norris Trophy winner as the league’s top defenseman had been the most talked-about trade candidate over the past couple of weeks. Minnesota sent center Marco Rossi, defenseman Zeev Buium, winger Liam Ohgren and a first-round pick in the 2026 draft to suddenly rebuilding Vancouver to complete the deal.

The trade was the second major swap of the day, after two-time Stanley Cup Final runner-up Edmonton finally made a move for a goaltender, acquiring Tristan Jarry from Pittsburgh.

Rossi (24), Ohgren (21) and Buium (20) fit the mold of the young talent the Canucks were speculated to be targeting if they were going to trade Hughes. Rossi (2020), Ohgren (2022) and Buium (2024) were all recent first-round draft picks by the Wild.

“Quinn played hard, led by example and did a lot of very good things for the Canucks,” Vancouver general manager Patrik Allvin said. “Trading away a player of this caliber is never an easy decision to make, but it was one we had to do to make our team better. We are so excited to add a solid centre in Marco, a good young blueliner in Zeev and a versatile forward in Liam. This year’s draft is a strong one, so acquiring a first-round pick was also a big part of this deal.”