Chants of “Hughes, you suck” rained down as former Vancouver Canuck Quinn Hughes hit the ice at Rogers Arena for the first time since a blockbuster trade sent him to Minnesota.
Whenever Hughes carried the puck in Sunday’s game, boos and heckles roared through the arena. And anytime Hughes fell to the ice, cheers broke out in the stands.
It was the American-born Hughes’s first time playing Vancouver, which drafted him seventh overall in 2018.
Former general manager Patrik Allvin traded Hughes on Dec. 12, 2025, after the club reportedly learned the defenceman didn’t intend to sign a contract extension with the team beyond 2027.
For the 2024 Norris Trophy recipient as the NHL’s best defenceman, the Canucks received centre Marco Rossi, forward Liam Öhgren, defenceman Zeev Buium and the Wild’s 2026 first-round pick, which the team used to select Adam Novotny 24th overall.
At the end of last season, the organization’s former president of hockey operations, Jim Rutherford, said Hughes didn’t leave Vancouver because the team was underperforming, rather “he was leaving anyways.”
Rutherford pointed to the desire from some American players to play in the U.S. over Canada.
Jim Rutherford, former president of hockey operations for the Canucks, says Hughes left at a time when some American players were looking to play at home. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
He also said the club would shift its focus to build around its young core.
“[We’ve] got a number of good young players coming. So, this team’s going in the right direction. How long that takes? I don’t know, I’d only be guessing,” he said.
In a September poll posted to X by local sports show Donnie & Dhali, roughly 66 per cent of respondents said the Canucks should not honour Hughes when they host the Minnesota Wild.
Our poll question: Should the #Canucks honour Quinn Hughes when the Wild come to Rogers Arena on October 25th?
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But the club played a video tribute during the first period which was met by a mix of applause and boos from fans in attendance, eventually leading to a standing ovation.
The Canucks entered Sunday’s matchup with twice as many total losses as the Wild.
The home team carried a record of 2-9-1, while the Wild had posted a 7-3-2 mark.
Ahead of Saturday’s game against the Seattle Kraken, Hughes addressed his much-anticipated return to Vancouver.
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“Whether I’m booed or whatnot, that won’t change how I feel about that place and how grateful I am for the experiences I’ve had there,” Hughes told reporters.
Hughes played 459 regular-season games for the Canucks and posted 432 points in that time, the most of any defenceman in club history.
Hughes, 27, is in his final year of a six-year, $47.1-million US contract, and has been eligible to sign an extension since July 1.
But he has yet to commit to signing in Minnesota.
The club missed its chance to sign Hughes to an eight-year deal before league rules reduced the maximum contract length to seven years on Sept. 16.
Cale Makar, who is known as one of the best defencemen in the league, signed an eight-year deal carrying an annual average salary of $20.4 million US in August. It is the first contract carrying an average annual salary of $20 million or more in NHL history.
At the time of Makar’s extension, Elliotte Friedman, a well-known NHL insider, speculated Hughes could command a similar annual figure.
