VANCOUVER — It was less than a week ago that Quinn Hughes joked the only “noise” he hears regarding his uncertain future with the Vancouver Canucks is inside his head.
But Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman has brought the noise to the Canucks captain — and everyone else in hockey — with his news bomb Monday night that Vancouver management has informed other National Hockey League teams that they will listen to trade offers on their experienced players.
And while Friedman reported that Hughes, the team captain and best player in franchise history, is not currently in the trade plans, any changes general manager Patrik Allvin and team president Jim Rutherford make that weaken the Canucks in the short term likely increase the chances that the superstar defenceman will ask out this summer or sooner if Vancouver’s season further unravels.
Heading into the final year of his contract next season and potential unrestricted free agency in 2027, the 26-year-old Hughes is expected to decide this summer whether to recommit to the Canucks or seek a move to the New Jersey Devils so he can play with younger brothers Jack and Luke.
Rutherford said after last season that the Canucks needed to do everything they could to keep Hughes, but that mission is already being compromised by Vancouver’s 9-12-2 start.
The Canucks are travelling Tuesday and open a difficult four-game road trip Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks.
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In an interview with Sportsnet before the Canucks’ last road trip, Rutherford said he had no plans for a rebuild — even if Hughes decides to leave.
“Rebuilds can work,” he said. “But you have to understand rebuilds take a long time. There has to be a lot of patience, and for the teams that take the biggest jump and ultimately rebuild and win a Cup, they usually have a first overall pick. And you still have to get lucky on that. So a rebuild is not something that we’re going to look at doing. Like I said, we’re in transition. But we’re not trading all these players for draft picks that may or may not end up playing someday.”
He also told us: “I think as long as we stay the course and keep getting younger players that we feel will play (in the NHL) and contribute to a team that can become a consistent playoff team and a contender, then that’s what we would do.”
Friedman reiterated it is management’s goal in any upcoming trades to make the Canucks younger.
But any deletions of key veterans from the Canucks roster, especially if the return is draft picks or prospects who can’t help the team this season, are only more likely to drive Hughes away in search of the chance to challenge for the Stanley Cup.
If Vancouver is open for business, other teams will find many appealing products on the shelves. But nearly all of the veteran Canucks have significant term remaining on their contracts and, more importantly, no-movement clauses.
Two players who don’t yet have NMCs are play-driving winger Conor Garland and injured starting goalie Thatcher Demko. Both signed multi-year extensions last summer, a year ahead of their free-agent eligibility, and will enjoy full trade protection starting next season.
Easily the most marketable Canuck on an expiring contract is buzzsaw winger Kiefer Sherwood, a 30-year-old who recorded 462 hits last season to obliterate the NHL record, and also broke through his perceived offensive ceiling with 19 goals and 40 assists.
Contract talks between Sherwood and the Canucks failed to gain traction last summer, partly because management is wary about how much money to commit long-term given Sherwood’s age and Vancouver’s roster, which has Garland and Brock Boeser ahead of him on right wing.
But Sherwood leads the Canucks this season with 12 goals in 23 games — he was the team’s first-quarter MVP — and it’s hard to see how trading him now would do anything but further flatten the team’s thin playoff chances.
If the Canucks want to ensure they don’t lose Sherwood for nothing in free agency after this season, Rutherford and Allvin have until the March 6 trade deadline to make their best deal.
Checking centre Teddy Blueger, 31, and rugged defenceman Derek Forbort, 33, are also on expiring contracts and could have trade appeal, but both have been out more than a month with injuries. With three goals in 23 games, winger Evander Kane, 34, has been a major disappointment as the Canucks’ big off-season acquisition, so it’s questionable what other teams would surrender to pick up his expiring contract at a cap hit of $5.125 million.
It’s not surprising, given the Canucks’ disappointing start, that management wants to gauge interest in their players and explore a new course for the franchise that Rutherford has stated is in transition due to the seismic trade last season of core centre J.T. Miller.
But with all that is riding on this season in Vancouver, it feels early to be selling off assets and reaching for a white flag.
