A Norris winner goes home
Quinn Hughes returns to Vancouver tonight, and the Minnesota Wild defenseman has made it clear he is not treating it as a grudge match. He said he feels gratitude toward the city, and that one night will not change how he looks back on his 6½ years there.
The Canucks took him seventh overall in 2018. He played 459 games for the club, became captain at the start of the 2023-24 season and won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman. Minnesota acquired him on Dec. 12, 2025, sending Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium and a 2026 first-round pick the other way.
Since then the Wild have won a first-round playoff series against Dallas with Hughes on the blue line, and he was part of the U.S. team that took gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics. This season he has two goals and 12 assists in 12 games, including a helper on Kirill Kaprizov’s 12th goal in Saturday’s game.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
A Vancouver team in a hole
The team he left is in rough shape. The Canucks sit last in the Pacific Division with an NHL-low five points, and their 0-8-1 run is a nine-game losing streak. The last win came on Oct. 3, a 4-1 result over Calgary.
First-year coach Manny Malhotra hopes Hughes’ return gives the building a lift. Brock Boeser said Hughes deserves a good welcome from the crowd.
Minnesota arrives in better form. The Wild beat Seattle 5-1 on Saturday, with Blake Coleman scoring twice and Jesper Wallstedt stopping 23 shots, which snapped a two-game losing streak. The win left them 1-1-1 on a five-game road trip that ends Tuesday at Utah.
Discover the rest of our NHL news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply