I Honestly Think Quinn Hughes Wants to Stay in Vancouver... He Just Knows He Can't

I just got back from the Vancouver Canucks–Buffalo Sabres game, where the Sabres came into Vancouver and beat the Canucks 3–2. It really felt like a low point. The first jerseys of the year were thrown onto the ice as the Canucks sit dead last in the NHL. Another home loss. More fan frustration. And right now, it feels like nothing but rumours about veterans on the trade block, rumours about the direction of the team, and most importantly, rumours about the future of team captain Quinn Hughes.

At this point, it seems almost certain he’s going to be traded. I'd guess before the Olympics in February. And I’ve got a hot take about this whole situation.

Deep down, I genuinely believe Quinn Hughes really does want to stay in Vancouver. He just knows he can’t.

When you're a hockey player, you only get so many years where you can realistically chase a Stanley Cup, and Quinn is right in the prime of his career. He’s the second-best defenseman in the NHL, easily a top-10 player in the league. He has the talent to be remembered as an all-time great. But to reach that level, he does need to accomplish more.

He won a Norris Trophy when the Canucks were a powerhouse in the 23–24 season, which was totally deserved. But ever since then, everything around him in Vancouver has gone down the drain. The coach he loved, Rick Tocchet, isn’t here anymore. Adam Foote, the team's new head coach, I'm going to be honest. He doesn’t look like he’s built for this role. It seems like there's a new quote almost every day for the media to run wild with, which adds even more distractions to this franchise.

To be fair, most nights the team works hard. But lately, there are too many nights where we’re questioning the effort. And when you look back on the past few years in Vancouver, it’s been one thing after another.

In 2023, the Bruce Boudreau saga. It wasn't a question of if he would be fired; it was when, and with that, why was he coaching so long when everyone knew he was gone and who would be replacing him? That same year, the Bo Horvat contract negotiations, are they trading him or not? Then, he was traded to the Islanders.

Even in a good year during the 2023-24 season, there was drama around whether Elias Pettersson would sign a contract extension.

Last year, after a great season, we got the JT Miller–Elias Pettersson drama, which eventually resulted in JT Miller being traded.

And now it’s Hughes at the centre of everything.

People point out the body language, and yeah, it’s not always great. He needs to be better, and he knows that. He’s the captain, I think he takes that role extremely seriously and it means a lot to him, especially in a passionate Canadian market.

In all those years, I think Quinn sees that the organization has failed to put a true contender around him, outside of that one magical 23–24 season.

And the problem now could be money.

He’s not going to take $7–8 million on his next deal. On the open market, he’s getting $13–14 million, easily. And once he signs that contract, he knows Vancouver won’t be able to build a Stanley Cup contender around him while he’s still in his prime.

So if he stays, he’s essentially accepting that he won’t win a Stanley Cup in Vancouver. And that’s something a player with his talent and ambition just can’t live with.

I genuinely believe Quinn Hughes would prefer to stay. I truly do. But everything happening around him, the losing, the lack of coaching stability, the revolving-door drama, and the financial reality, has led him to understand that he has to leave Vancouver if he wants to accomplish his childhood dream of winning a Stanley Cup.

Maybe one day he comes back and finishes his career here and the relationship gets repaired with the fan base down the road.

But right now, this feels like a player who doesn’t really want to go… but knows he has no choice.