'I've Known For Some Time That Quinn Was Not Staying In Vancouver': Canucks Jim Rutherford Provides More Details On The Quinn Hughes Trade

During his year-end media availability, Jim Rutherford gave some additional clarity on what happened this past season with Quinn Hughes. On December 13, 2025, the organization traded the former Norris Trophy winner to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren, Zeev Buium and a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. While there was speculation that Hughes would be dealt, the Wild as his final destination was very surprising, as most insiders believed he would be headed to the Eastern Conference.

When asked about what went wrong this season, part of Rutherford's answer revolved around having to trade Hughes. While the 26-year-old does have an additional year left on his contract, it had become clear that he was not going to re-sign in Vancouver. According to Rutherford, "I've known for some time that Quinn was not staying in Vancouver, and I've known before this season started, for that matter."

Even though Rutherford knew that keeping Hughes was a long shot, he still tried his best to keep his captain with the organization. Rutherford said, "It's one of the reasons why we signed the guys, the Garlands, the Boesers, the Demkos, that had relationships with him. Hoping for a little bit of a chance right down to the end that he would decide to stay here, but I don't think that was ever in the cards."

Later in the press conference, Rutherford was asked about the organization's culture. Hughes is not the only player who has requested a trade over the past few years, which is concerning when trying to build a winning team. In his answer, Rutherford discussed some of the issues Canadian teams can face in retaining players.

"Some people think Quinn left here because the team wasn't any good," said Rutherford. "He was leaving anyway. And the best example I can give you is Matthew Tkachuk. He was in Calgary. They had a good team. He wanted to go back to the US, and he went. And this is not going to be the last guy in Quinn Hughes that decides he's going to leave. I'm close to him. I really like him. I respect what he did in Vancouver. He put on a good show for a lot of years. But guys work towards free agency, and we should respect the fact that he had that option, and he was going to exercise the option to go back to the United States."