Canucks Live: Hughes reunion as road trip looms with more questions than answers

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The valley is flooding, there’s nothing but a grey deluge in the forecast for the next 10 days, you probably haven’t even started your Christmas shopping, and the Canucks are the worst team in the NHL by all standards. Oh, and their captain and best player grows ever closer to leaving. Happy Friday? When it rains it pours — literally.

The hope of this team getting their best players back from injury and going on a mini-run to keep the playoff dream alive slides further away each day. Vancouver is now eight points out of the last wild card spot and would have to climb over eight teams to get there. Expectations weren’t high going into the season but few experts saw this team unravelling the way it has.

Is the Quinn Hughes uncertainty to blame? The rookie head coach? Meddling ownership? Front office mistakes? Pure lack of talent? The reason doesn’t really matter — what does is how to get out of it.

Let’s look at last night first. Sabres in town, another one of the NHL’s bottom dwellers, the last home game in front of your fans before Christmas, and you get your elite goalie back. And you lose. Again. The Canucks continue to be a terrible team defensively, only the St. Louis Blues have given up more goals. Maybe it’s getting Thatcher Demko back that gives coach Adam Foote hope but he was citing the lack of offence after the game last night:

Canucks head coach Adam Foote lamented having 27 shots blocked by the Sabres because the 31 the Canucks generated should have been sufficient for a win.

“We’ve got to find a way to get the puck in the net,” he stressed. “Right now when this is going on, we have to play a perfect game. The two 5-on-5 goals were mishaps and we didn’t have a lot of them. We were at the net and digging, but it’s like we’re too desperate. They had a lot of blockers and we maybe have to make one more pass high.”

Brock Boeser had some concerning things to say to Ben Kuzma after the game. He’s been here long enough to understand a struggling, underperforming team, yet says this feels different:

“It’s getting really frustrating,” admitted Boeser. “This feeling is different than the past. We’re playing well, out-chancing teams, and coming out on the wrong end. It comes down to doing the little things right. We have to be harder to play against. There are times when we get away from those details.” 

Yet there’s no doubt what the biggest question mark is with this team. It’s Hughes and his future. If they can’t get out of the mud with him here, what’s the hope? Ben wrote about this today in his Canucks Coffee:

“It’s kind of weird because we’re playing pretty good with lots of looks,” Hughes said after the game. “We have to stay positive. We’re in every game for the most part, but obviously, we want a better result.”

It has become a familiar refrain and one that weighs heavily on the captain, who often has that distant gaze of wondering what’s coming next in a season gone south. And because trade talk keeps ramping up, his focus has to remain on his job and not the contract. But he hears the noise. 

“I’m obviously human, but I feel more the results and where we are in the standings,” he said. “That probably affects me more. I’m trying to do everything I can. You watch me play. I bring it every night, being a good teammate, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

That’s very admirable, but let’s cut to the chase.

The Canucks owe it to Hughes to have the trade conversation sooner than later. Move him next month. Let him get acclimated to a new team before joining Team USA in the Winter Olympics. He shouldn’t have to wait longer. 

A counter argument would be if Hughes goes to the Olympics, stands on the biggest stage and lights it up, maybe you up the value?

That seems even more ridiculous, that you’d have to up the value of a player that is clearly a top-5 talent in the NHL.

Most Canucks fans, as much as they love Hughes, seem resigned to the fact this is going to happen. But if you’re stick of all the speculation about it, brace yourself. With the Canucks next game on Sunday morning against the Devils, where he’s long rumoured to be interested in going to play with his brothers, this weekend is going to be overflowing with Hughes news. Let’s start with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman devoting the biggest chunk of his 32 Thoughts podcast and article on Hughes.

Here’s a nugget that should infuriate Canucks fans:

This is what I’m least certain about. Vancouver has to get this right. I’ve heard the ask is very high, as it should be. One exec told me it is “outrageous.” I replied, “Probably not outrageous enough.” He laughed.

Every team, both brain trust and fans, overvalues their own players. But what on earth could be “outrageous” for a top-two defenceman? There should be no ask in the NHL that’s “outrageous” for Hughes. Put him on the Oilers, they probably win the Cup. Put him on the Leafs, they shoot backup to being a serious contender. Put him on the Lightning, they become a Cup favourite.

If general managers around the NHL are worried about their young prospects that may pay off four seasons from now, it just highlights the ridiculous conservatism that exists in hockey. This is a player that could win you a Cup, maybe two Cups over the next two years. You have to give up something to get him. Some other thoughts from Friedman:

A young, impactful centre is very important to them. A deal is not impossible without one, but it will require something special to offset that desire. I got a few notes wondering if Detroit was “hiding” Marco Kasper Monday in Vancouver as a winger, but, as a lefty, he splits faceoffs with righty Nate Danielson, depending on where it is. That game, he took six and Danielson four.

Not impossible they wait until the draft, preferring no deal than a bad deal. But all of this noise exists for a reason. Talks are underway.

WHO’S IN THIS?

I always believe there are teams I don’t see. This is Quinn Hughes, for God’s sake. Who wouldn’t want him?

New Jersey is obvious. I’ve been on Detroit for a while. Washington is around, but I don’t think the Canucks can snare the Capitals’ best young players. I know there’ve been suggestions about the Rangers, but I don’t see the trade match. Philadelphia doesn’t have the centre, so what else can the Flyers come up with? I mentioned Pittsburgh, but a few sources pooh-poohed this brainstorm.

Team I always assume tries: Carolina.

This, however, ignores the entire Western Conference. You know who has a lot of picks and prospects? Utah. Which brings us to …

HOW MUCH SAY DOES HUGHES HAVE?

This is a multi-layered question.

Hughes does not have no-trade or no-move protection. Therefore, the Canucks can trade him anywhere they wish, and have indicated they are prepared to do just that. While it’s believed Hughes prefers East long-term, the Canucks could send him West if one of those teams stepped up and took a chance.

Of course, there’s no tampering in the NHL, but you can be certain any landing spot will want an idea if it appeals to the 2024 Norris Trophy winner. A few teams believe Washington, depending on the price, would consider a two-year stay, because there’d be something very special about another Stanley Cup run while Alexander Ovechkin remains a Capital.

In fairness, Friedman does float a scenario that keeps Hughes in Vancouver, but again you’d have to ask: If he stays here, how does this team get better?

There’s one option we haven’t considered: the Canucks can’t extend Hughes until July 1, but nothing prevents them from talking to him. They could promise eight years at a monster number. It would require Hughes committing for a few more seasons, with the understanding that if he doesn’t like what he sees at a certain point, he would be moved.

On Sept. 15, 2026, new CBA contract rules kick-in, with maximum term dropping to seven years and tighter limits on bonus payments. You’d think, if Hughes is traded, he’d get an extension before then, but it’s not guaranteed. And, if Vancouver holds him onto next year, he might not get one until the rules change.

My only question is if this would work. Hughes might not get what the Canucks are willing to do somewhere else, but he’s still going to be handsomely paid. If he doesn’t believe in what’s around him, I don’t see this working. 

On Fridays, we peruse the power rankings to see what’s the view of the Canucks outside of this market. This week it was pretty predictable.

Let’s start with ESPN:

32. Vancouver Canucks (Previous ranking: 30 \ Points percentage: 40.3 per cent)

Kiefer Sherwood, LW/RW (rostered in 78.3 per cent): As anticipated, the goal-scoring has dried up. Rocking a highly unsustainable 31.6 per cent, Sherwood scored 12 in his first 20 games, followed by zero in his subsequent 10 contests. Outside of fantasy leagues that reward hits at an ultra-premium, the physical forward is replaceable. Panic.

Next seven days: @ NJ (Dec. 14), @ NYR (Dec. 16) 

OK, what about The Athletic?

32. Vancouver Canucks, 11-17-3 (Last week: 31)

Christmas wish: A massive haul for Quinn Hughes

It cannot be overstated how much the Canucks need to extort as much value as possible in a Quinn Hughes trade, considering he may be the best asset to hit the market in the cap era. It also cannot be overstated enough how much this Canucks franchise feels absolutely incapable of meeting that moment with competence. Colleague Thomas Drance had a great breakdown of that.

Now over to Bleacher Report:

32. Vancouver Canucks (1 of 32 \ Previous Ranking: 30 \ Overall Record: 11-16-3)

The blows are coming from all directions for the skidding Canucks, who fell to 2-7-1 in their last 10 games with a 4-0 loss to visiting Detroit in which starting goalie Kevin Lankinen was pulled after allowing three goals on 13 shots.

More ominously, defenceman Quinn Hughes has begun to publicly address rumours that he could be traded.

“As far as other things, I mean, I think I’m doing everything I can,” Hughes said. “I think that (it’s about) playing as good as I can.” 

The Hockey News:

32. Vancouver Canucks (11-16-3, -23. PR: 32)

A surprising 4-2 win against the Wild brought some reprieve, but this is a team that’s hurtling toward another massive turning point for the franchise, and not in a good way. Trade talk concerning captain Quinn Hughes seems to have hit a fever pitch. The question now is whether the Canucks address this situation now and avoid going through further turmoil like they did last season, or if they keep waiting and hope things work out. (A strategy, by the way, that hasn’t worked out for them on numerous occasions). The return of Thatcher Demko buys some time, but the clock is still ticking.

We’ll spare you any more repetition but it seems to be a unanimous thought that the Canucks are indeed what the standings say they are, the worst.

Check back for more Canucks news throughout the day …