Something was in the water on the West Coast of Canada on Friday, as both the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers made trades that could change the course of their franchise. The Canucks stole the Oilers' thunder by trading their captain, Quinn Hughes, in a blockbuster deal to the Minnesota Wild, receiving Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, and a first-round pick in return.
While the Oilers might not be too happy with the returns on their trade, the Canucks accomplished everything they set out to do when trading such a substantial player. Ohgren is still a work-in-progress, and the value of the first-round pick isn't as good with Hughes on the Wild's roster. But Buium and Rossi could prove to be difference-makers for the Canucks.
Vancouver wasn't too interested in a full-blown rebuild. If there was a way to trade Hughes, help their center depth, and replace the Norris Trophy-winner with someone younger, the Canucks wanted to make it happen. With a top-six, 24-year-old center in Rossi and a 20-year-old offensive defenseman in Buium: mission accomplished.
Buium has some defensive flaws in his game, but so did Hughes when he was his age coming out of the University of Michigan. Buium is following a similar trajectory as a top prospect coming out of the University of Denver, and there's no one doubting that one day he has the potential to be on Hughes' level. He has 14 points in 31 games in his rookie season, and already has two World Junior gold medals and a World Championship with Team USA under his belt.
Rossi is coming off a career-high 60 points last season, and a fresh start in Vancouver could be all he needs after a rough end to last season's playoffs.
What can Quinn Hughes do for the Wild?
A top pairing of Hughes and Brock Faber for Minnesota sounds like a great start to contending for the Stanley Cup this season. The Wild have quietly been building a case for being one of the top teams in the Western Conference, primarily due to the emergence of rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt.
It isn't an easy division for the Wild to play in, with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars ahead of them. However, the Wild have a seven-point cushion on the Chicago Blackhawks for third in the Central Division, and it'd be easy to predict that the lead could grow with the addition of Hughes.
Hughes gives the Wild another offensive threat, something they didn't really have from the backend. Buium was a solid piece for that as a rookie, but he was also -9 on a team with a +7 goal differential. The Wild's newest acquisition will have a much more all-around presence.
Minnesota was already 7-2-1 over its last 10 games. They'll miss Rossi, but the Wild could see their recent hot streak with him out of the lineup since mid-November as a sign that their success doesn't directly correlate with his presence. In reality, from the lineup in the recent hot streak, the Wild are just swapping Buium for Hughes, which at this current time is a massive upgrade.
Wild-Canucks final trade grades
You have to believe that the Wild are going to get a long-term extension done with Hughes after making this deal. The former Canucks captain will be eligible to sign an extension on July 1, and it'd be a disaster for Minnesota to give up so much for just a season and a half of his services. When giving out the Wild's grade, the assumption will be that he is now calling Minnesota home for at least his next contract.
Wild fans might now be searching for how long it'll be until Jack Hughes' contract ends with the New Jersey Devils. The answer would be 2030-31, meaning any Hughes brothers meet-ups likely wouldn't happen until then. If this is the start of some serious talent coming to play in the State of Hockey, it's an even more massive win for the Wild.
It's hard to give the Canucks an A after losing another one of their top players for the second year in a row. JT Miller left in a cloud of controversy last season, and now Quinn Hughes seems unhappy on the way out, as well. It's a bad precedent for the organization to set in back-to-back years.
Nevertheless, the Canucks will be happy with their return on this deal, which props up their grade. If Rossi becomes a career-long top-six center for the Canucks and Buium becomes a star, it'll help Vancouver hockey fans slightly forget what happened.
Wild grade: A-
Canucks grade: B
