Hughes Traded Thread

[Megaterio Llamas]

Listening to a liquored-up Donnie and Dhali break it down is a treat

I listened to that

Strangely I find him far more articulate and tolerable this way

I'm with Taylor when it comes to being concerned that there is zero grit in the return though. Nobody over 6', nobody 190 lbs...

Yeah, it was a good listen lol. That industry has always been booze fueled. Notice Ryan Henderson was perfectly sober.

[donlever]

Now that we have all slept on it, from around the league..

Current NHL head coach: "Win-win. Vancouver gets a haul of young players. I am not stamping any of them (as impact players), but they have a chance. And (the Canucks) need players. Minny gets a Norris candidate, and those kind of players are scary to give up. Minny takes a little player depth hit, and Vancouver - who needs the depth - gains it. Verdict: good hockey trade."

Current NHL assistant GM: "Very surprising since you were hearing all about New Jersey and Detroit and just felt he was going East. But Vancouver got a good return. I'm a big Buium fan and Rossi has already proven to be a 25-goal and 60-point guy.

"Trade will really be judged on who the first-round pick turns out to be and if Minny re-signs Hughes. If they just get him for a year and a half, that's a lot to give up. But if they re-sign him, they are getting arguably the second-best offensive defenseman in the NHL behind Makar."

Longtime member of an NHL team's front office: "It's a really interesting trade. For Minnesota, they do a good job of taking a swing at another core piece. Kaprizov, Boldy, Hughes, Faber, and Wallstedt all in a (multi-year) window is pretty good. Will be interesting to see them trying to win without a (proven) center.

"Tough for Vancouver when you know you are going to be trading the best player in the deal. They certainly did a good job of grabbing some nice young pieces and adding to the depth of their organization. They arguably don't have any core players now, though Buium could become pretty good. They have been caught in between trying to compete (and trying to retool or rebuild) so where does this leave them now?"

Winner: Canucks’ under-25 talent pool

It’s a nightmare that the Canucks lost Hughes. But if you accept that his departure was inevitable given the team’s state and his alleged comments, the organization salvaged the trade return reasonably well.

When surveying executives from different NHL teams, most gave the Canucks high marks for landing this lucrative package of young assets.

Buium is the piece that Canucks fans should be salivating about. The 20-year-old left-shot defender was one of the best players in college hockey the last couple of years. He’s an elite skater, is already a capable PP1 quarterback, and has the ceiling to one day become Hughes-lite. Scott Wheeler rated him as the fifth-best prospect in hockey last summer. Buium has faced some defensive challenges as a rookie this season, but he only turned 20 last week. Whether Buium reaches his potential will make or break this trade return for the Canucks.

[donlever]

https://youtu.be/gInI0QvBT2M?si=MagwSVkC-3L-UWjJ

[rikster]

I think the writing was on the wall going back to the 2021 draft when the Devils lucked out and had the #4 pick which is right where Luke Hughes was projected to go....

Remember along with others thinking Oh Oh, how will Quinn feel about seeing his two brothers on the same team?

Really is the Canucks way in that it lucks out having Quinn fall to them at #7 only to lose him because the Devils lucked out just 3 years later...

As far as getting rid of every veteran, don't see that happening as it sounds like Rutherford/Alvin have the same philosophy as Benning in that you need to surround the kids with quality veterans...

[theman]

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I think Vancouver came out alright, all things considered.

Yes, it was all from a mess which was self inflicted but they salvaged it to a degree.

A lot will depend on how Buium develops, if he comes a first pairing D, this trade looks good. Also, Rossi is a 2C and he show free up F Petey for more offensive situations. The winger, well, hopefully he finds something. I only wish the Canucks could have gotten 2 first round picks back not just one.

Now what other moves do they make? I am in the camp of not trading everyone. Keep Hronek unless someone offers a Hughes package to get him.

Would still trade:

Sherwood, Kane, Blueger, Forbert, 1 of Demko/Lankinen

Only trade if a “knock your socks off” package is coming back:

Myers, M Pettersson, Garland and in a very specific situation Hronek (read below)

- Canucks already have 3 rookies in their top 6 D now, need vets there.

Would not trade:

Boeser, F Petey - see how the new forward group meshes before giving up on them. Think Petey will benefit from having another C that can force opposition to split their focus. Also I am hopeful the Canucks will land a legitimate top line winger in the upcoming draft.

Boeser - got to keep some players around who want to be here

Hronek - legitimate top pairing RD do not grow on trees. Keep him unless it is an amazing package coming back for him.

[donlever]

Yeah...I said in another thread keep Hronek for now unless we can draft Verhoeff then he is a potential moveable asset for more youth up front.

I believe Demko to be untradeable at this time for anything of value so basically a money off the books deal until/unless he can prove he is not a walking (skating) hospital case....

Lankinen continues to be a thorn in my fucking side.

4.5 and a no move.

Where is he going?

As an aside.

Post trade Makar, Hughes, Heiskanen and Morrisey all play in the same division!

Sick talent...

[rikster]

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I think Vancouver came out alright, all things considered.

Agree with you...

Some encouraging stats on Buium ...

Buium’s 50-point freshman season ranks among the highest NCAA defenseman totals in decades — reported as third-most ever by a U19 NCAA defenseman....

For comparison, Quinn had 29 points in his freshman season, Makar had 21...

[Chef Boi RD]

You need to keep some vets around for this youth movement rebuild we just started otherwise it will end up a true gong show. I’d keep - Pettersson, Boeser, Hronek, Debrusk, Hoglander who is close to being a vet. I’m on the fence with Garland and M. Pettersson. You keep Myers until he times out, he’s a local guy, likes it here and is well liked in the room. You trade Sherwood, Kane and Demko. Keep Lankinen. Although both Demko and Buium are Southern Californian’s might be good to keep Demko to be bum buddy’s with Buium’s bum.

[rikster]

You need to keep some vets around for this youth movement rebuild we just started otherwise it will end up a true gong show.

I'd flip it around and determine how many kids are ready to play in the NHL now and then decide how many veterans you need to keep...

With Demko, Garland and Boeser, wonder if they knew Quinn was leaving when they signed their extensions last off season?...

[2Fingers]

The day after I look at the team and think is it better than before the trade and the answer is yes. Now they have 2 bona fide centers (not any 100 point guys but Florida proved that you don't need that). A projected top 4 (or even 2) young defender. a young winger and another 1st round pick in a strong draft year.

[Topper]

A few walk of shame morning after getting butt fucked comments;

"came out of it the best they could"

They intentionally drove the bus into a brick wall when the road ahead was clear.

Coming away confined to a wheelchair isn't doing the best they could.

If Hughes was willing to commit long term to his new team, they may have come away with a life on crutches. That isn't doing anyone a "solid". That was a fuck you I want out of here now.

Timing goes back to Miller/Pettersson. JT arrives in camp #2 in fitness, no word how bad Scooter's Bo2Max scored, You know there were no JuJu man wet sloppy kisses from JT for shitting the bed on off season training. Miller sits out most of the preseason with various excuses of screwy preseason sched, rumours of a boo boo....Early season leave of absence a suspicious 10 games, word of tension goes from leak to dam break.

Through it all, management holds Tocchet and Hughes by the short and curlies making them uncomfortably tow the party line. Most telling comment comes from Alvin "in days past Rick would have dealt with this in the locker room and it wouldn't be an issue" Post season Meyers and Debrusk come out raving about JT, (Debrusk - JT: a great guy, he and his wife had me over for dinner often when I first arrived, really went out of their way to make me welcome. Pettersson: He's a nice guy, I sit next to him in the locker room). Then early this season, Miller, Hughes, Foote tete a tete a tete over drinks

Tocchet, a year off his Adams Trophy win in Vancouver, takes his exit clause as soon as available. Hughes, a year off his Norris Trophy win, tells them he isn't hanging around.

It’s Vancouver and we need to go woke and go broke.

While seeds of Miller/Pettersson divide were planted in the locker room, They germinated and flowered in the second floor Ladies’ Room among the Assistant GM mean girls. Oh no, he used a sexist slur in an NHL locker room BANISH HIM! (Bailiff, whack his pee pee).

DEI till we die. Blessed are the sandwich makers.

Left is the petulant elite turd line suspect skater. The guy who can't get any team mates to attend his wedding. The guy who marries the hot, barren TikTok Influencer who chooses to live on her own in her California home. Can we call her Lisa Marie?

Scooter must be more lonely than a hair an his head.

[donlever]

...ask and ye shall receive.

[Meds]

Current NHL assistant GM: "Very surprising since you were hearing all about New Jersey and Detroit and just felt he was going East. But Vancouver got a good return. I'm a big Buium fan and Rossi has already proven to be a 25-goal and 60-point guy.

"Trade will really be judged on who the first-round pick turns out to be and if Minny re-signs Hughes. If they just get him for a year and a half, that's a lot to give up. But if they re-sign him, they are getting arguably the second-best offensive defenseman in the NHL behind Makar."

I heard one opinion yesterday regarding Hughes and Makar that put Quinn ahead of Cale. Hughes actually drives the attack like a 1C, but he does it from the blueline. The take was that Hughes is in the McDavid class of player in that he completely changes the flow of the game and controls the play at a different level when he's on the ice. Makar has not shown that he does this absent MacKinnon.

The loss of a talent like this is staggering for an organization that has been floundering for over a decade.

That being said, they did well to get what they got.

[Meds]

Topper's post (Lever'd so Lever doesn't have to).....

That was a lot. LMAO!

I'd say almost all of it spot on.

Conflicting rumours out there regarding what else was available/offered. When Hughes preference is to play closer to the east coast (NJ top of the list), but he says sure we will see what happens in Minnesota.....yeah, that can definitely be interpreted as you say, "fuck you I'm out now".

Is that on the level that no teammates showed for Scooters nuptials? That screams louder than any of the alleged on-ice/locker room drama.


As an aside, Topper, the least you can do is stick around long enough to give us your take after watching Buium skate for the stinky whale.

[Chef Boi RD]

Satiar Shah: “Some of the teams involved in Hughes talks weren’t prepared to offer a player with higher upside than Buium (exciting talent) despite being able to

We talk about Canucks “what ifs” but the teams that missed out on Hughes will have their own “what if” to ponder over the years”

It seems Guerin stepped up to the plate with brass balls that other teams weren’t willing to.

Bill Guerin:

"Look, with players of [Hughes] calibre, you cannot screw around. You're not going to fool anybody. Jim's been doing this for 40 years. I know Patrik. They do their homework. They know. We had to go to them with something real, right away, to tell them that we're serious.

"That was our initial offer.

"We came out of the gates with that. Because they wanted to check certain boxes, and we had to check them for them. That's the only way it gets done. We're not going to sneak one by them. They're smart."