Days after the Vancouver Canucks reportedly began listening to offers about their veterans, barring Quinn Hughes, news emerged that Kiefer Sherwood was teetering on the verge of being traded. Then there is Evander Kane, the highly contentious winger, who is also reportedly on the trade block along with Sherwood.
While the Canucks are not expected to make any move surrounding Hughes, the key blueliner is nearing the end of his contract with the Canucks, and he might want to take his championship aspirations elsewhere if the team keeps playing as it has. However, despite all the noise, Hughes has stepped up to weigh in on the trade discourse surrounding Vancouver.
Quinn Hughes Gets Brutally Honest About the Vancouver Canucks’ Trade Frenzy
Here’s the thing: the Canucks believe that the team needs to get younger, and to that end of reenergizing their roster, the Vancouver front office is not afraid to make deals involving their older players. Sherwood might go first, despite the 30-year-old’s stated interest in playing for the team.
If Sherwood, the season’s leading goal scorer for the Canucks, is exposed to the vagaries of the NHL trade, there is no saying that others won’t be.
Amid growing discontent in the fanbase stemming from the Canucks’ underwhelming performance and the unpredictability of the trade scenario, franchise star Hughes has finally spoken up.
Jim Rutherford’s dicey remark about the team’s need to get younger had triggered a wave of anxiety in the community. Drawing upon Rutherford’s sentiment, Hughes stated that such conversations simply come down to how the team is faring.
Surely, if the team were playing well and in a better position in the standings, trade conversations would not be as loud as they currently are.
“If we were winning games, Jim wouldn’t have said that. I don’t exactly know what he said because I’m not on Twitter or anything, but I heard the gist of it, and I think, like I said, if we were winning games, there would be no conversation about this,” Hughes stated, as reported by Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.
Quinn Hughes says his relationship with Jim Rutherford is excellent, and trade talk doesn’t disrupt Canucks. Says players believe in themselves.
“I mean,this is all about winning games. If we were winning, there would be no conversation about this.” https://t.co/cubbAdQjfx
— Iain MacIntyre (@imacSportsnet) November 28, 2025
The sentiment is the same as the one exhibited by Sidney Crosby when speculation regarding his future arose during the offseason. When it comes to Hughes, there is always room to believe that he might not re-sign. While any development on that front remains an enigma, the defenseman’s sole focus is currently on winning games to help the Canucks escape their current slump.
“I know our coaches are coaching hard and working hard, and we work extremely hard (as players). We’ve just got to keep going like that,” Hughes admitted.
As the team’s key d-man stated, the only way the Canucks can get the better of the never-ending trade speculation is to actually rise to the occasion by staying healthy and winning games.
