4 NHL Trade Packages for Quinn Hughes That Don't Include the Devils

Trade rumors about Quinn Hughes leaving the Vancouver Canucks are going to persist until the day that Quinn Hughes actually does leave the Vancouver Canucks, whether via trade to another team or via retirement.

Despite general manager Jim Rutherford (heretofore referred to as GMJR for expediency's sake) noting that they aren't looking to trade Hughes at the moment, as the old saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. 

So we're going to look at some potential trade packages. Specifically, trade packages that do not involve the New Jersey Devils, because I'm relatively certain that one has been done to death by this point, and 30 other teams in the league could potentially take a swing at a trade for the eldest Hughes brother.

At its core, exploring a trade makes sense—if Hughes isn't planning to sign long-term in Vancouver, the Canucks probably feel like it's better to go ahead and move on and get what they can in return. That's just good asset management (relative to the situation, anyway—true good asset management would've been building a contending team around Hughes and keeping him happy, but I digress).

GMJR has noted in the past that while he isn't shopping Hughes, if he were to trade him, he'd want young players under team control in return rather than a bunch of picks that may or may not pan out into NHL players. I've tried to keep that in mind while shaping these packages.

Buffalo Sabres

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Bowen Byram

The Trade Offer: Quinn Hughes for Bo Byram and the rights to Brodie Ziemer

Reasoning Why:

As I noted in my Rasmus Dahlin trade packages piece, the Sabres allegedly want to win. What better way to keep the captain happy and push the team forward to a winning place than by trading for Quinn Hughes, another team's captain and another high-octane mobile defenseman? This hypothetical scenario would most likely be an offseason trade, rather than something that would happen during the 25-26 season.

I wouldn't really want to do this to Hughes because it's almost like going from bad to worse (sorry, Sabres fans), but hey, things can change!

Bo Byram going back the other way is so there's at least one trade package where a player of a similar style goes back to the Canucks in the return — Byram may not be Hughes, but he's similarly offense-minded and mobile, and he's still young and could benefit from a new environment. I've included the rights to Brodie Ziemer here because Byram alone isn't necessarily enough, and the University of Minnesota winger plays a strong forechecking style that I think would really appeal to GMJR.

Philadelphia Flyers

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The Trade Offer: Quinn Hughes for Emil Andrae, Bobby Brink, and a 2nd-round pick

Reasoning Why:

Trading Quinn Hughes for two young players, a forward and a defenseman, who aren't guaranteed to turn into anything amazing but who could very well be key cogs in a winning team, feels a) like a very NHL move in general and b) a move that GMJR would possibly make. After all, why take a chance on one young player when you could have two? This and the next Flyers trade would likely happen in-season, unlike the previous Sabres trade.

I will say: Andrae has a lot of potential, even if it needs polishing right now. Same with Brink. But both of these players would be the type to play complementary roles, rather than the top-flight, big-name role that Hughes fills. So it really depends on whether the Canucks are okay with that.

On the other hand, the Flyers would probably love to get their hands on a player like Quinn Hughes—but then, who wouldn't? He would instantly elevate not only their blue line but also their offensive talent; his puck-moving and playmaking skills are elite among the league, and every time he steps onto the ice, he makes the players around him better.

That's the kind of acquisition that could bump the Flyers to the next tier of teams.

Philadelphia Flyers, But Different

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Owen Tippett

The Trade Offer: Quinn Hughes for Owen Tippett

Reasoning Why:

Before we get into this, yes, this is a lopsided offer in favor of the Flyers. But, with Hughes' contract situation and the pressure the Canucks are under to contend, it's not out of the realm of possibilities.

This approach is less likely than the former proposed Flyers trade, but I had to throw it out there because I feel like you can't ever truly predict what NHL general managers will do or how they really value players. It's a different framework for a very similar trade—one that sees the Flyers acquire Hughes for all the reasons I've already listed, but with a different return to the Canucks.

Rather than taking a chance on two adds who are more potential than concrete value, in this scenario, GMJR would acquire Owen Tippett, a player who is known for one particular aspect of his game—goal scoring. (Side note: at the time of writing, Tippett is one goal away from 100 career goals!)

There are no throw-ins here, not because I think that Hughes for Tippett is an equal trade, but because their cap hits are fairly close and in this hypothetical scenario there's no guarantee that Hughes would re-sign with the Flyers, and also sometimes NHL trades are uneven in a way that makes the mind boggle and I wanted that strange reality represented in this piece. It's not equal.

It would be a bad idea for the Canucks. But has that ever stopped an NHL team or made a potential trade less likely?

Toronto Maple Leafs

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The Trade Offer: Quinn Hughes for Matthew Knies

Reasoning Why:

It's one-for-one, or whatever that Bob McKenzie tweet about the Taylor Hall-Adam trade said.

I'm going to be very upfront here. I don't think either team should make this trade; I think both teams should keep their respective players. But you and I both have to admit that, given what we've seen NHL general managers do, it feels far too plausible. Given how talented Matthew Knies is, his youth, and their cap hits being fairly close, I can see GMJR agreeing to make this trade a one-for-one rather than doing the calculus to bring in extra assets.

Sure, the Canucks would be trading away a defenseman and bringing in a forward, but you can fill that spot on defense from within, right? No? 

Then you can definitely bring in someone from next summer's free agent group, right? I checked, and the top names available are John Carlson, Rasmus Andersson, and Jacob Trouba. So godspeed with that one. We'll see how that goes.

Losing Knies would put the Leafs in a similar situation. They've already lost Mitch Marner's offense, and it's pretty clear when you watch them that they haven't filled that gap. Adding Quinn Hughes brings in considerable offensive talent—he's an incredibly gifted playmaker—but when you're already operating at a deficit, that doesn't actually fix the problem. 

In short, it's the exact kind of terrible idea NHL general managers salivate over, so it might be the most likely to happen out of all of these.