The smoke has turned into fire. After the story unfolded over the last few days, the Vancouver Canucks went from pushing for a playoff spot to understanding it may not happen this year to trading some short-term veterans to now considering a Quinn Hughes trade. It’s been a fluid situation, but it seems to be at a fever pitch.
Obviously, there will be a long line of teams asking for Quinn Hughes. Even if Hughes says he’s only signing with the New Jersey Devils, which he has not said, teams would love to have him for two playoff runs. The Devils aren’t going to get him for free, and if GM Tom Fitzgerald feels he finishes what he started and makes the Devils contenders, he has to pay the price to get him.
We spoke to Noah Strang on the Let’s Go Devils Podcast on Tuesday night, who feels the Canucks want NHL players that can bring their age down and lift allow them to compete sooner rather than later. The Devils can make a trade like that work, but it’s going to hurt.
What will it take to get Hughes on this roster now? We took a stab at three different trade options.
This was the trade many proposed in the offseason, and it made less sense then than it does now. Both Simon Nemec and Dawson Mercer were coming off rough seasons, although Nemec made up for it in the playoffs. Still, their value wasn’t very high. This seemed like a pipe dream.
Now, with Nemec going out of his mind and Mercer getting back to the opportunistic player who looks like a future 30-goal scorer, it makes a lot more sense. We don’t think any other team can beat this proposal, as Nemec looks like he could grow into a top-10 defenseman if everything goes right. That’s still a question, but he has an incredible skillset and he has already taken over games.
Mercer bounced back to the tune of 17 points in 22 games. He’s on pace for 33 goals and 63 points. That would be a great extra piece in a trade for Quinn Hughes. This would give the Canucks their future in a trade, which is what they would need if this was a one-team trade.
However, Mercer might not be their cup of tea. If that’s the case, or if the Devils are trying to avoid adding an NHL forward, they could target a third team to make this work.
There’s a lot going on with this trade. The Vancouver Canucks accept a Quinn Hughes trade that doesn’t include a first-round pick. The St. Louis Blues made the big trade to get assets for Jordan Kyrou. The Devils basically lock themselves into LTIR, but they also get rid of the Ondrej Palat contract.
Let’s take this one team at a time. The Devils get Quinn Hughes. That’s obviously the prize here. They are an instant contender, and they didn’t have to touch their forwards to do it. They lose a ton of their defensive youth, but what do they need that for with Hughes on the roster along with Luke Hughes and the incoming Anton Silayev? This is a slam dunk.
For the Canucks, they get two pieces they can build around. We talked about Nemec in the last trade, but he would be the prize for the Canucks. He looks like exactly the type of piece they would want in a Hughes trade. Nobody else can offer that unless the Minnesota Wild are willing to give up Buium (which they wouldn’t). Getting Jordan Kyrou on top of that, a 27-year-old who is scorign 30 goals a season, would solidify a retool over a rebuild in Vancouver.
For St. Louis, there might be some convincing. They get a B-level defensive prospect in Seamus Casey, but he probably fits what they are trying to do better than Logan Mailloux. He also doesn’t come with the PR nightmare. A first-round pick on top of it might move the needle for them. Maybe the Devils upgrade the Canucks pick to a second-round pick, and they add Aatu Raty, who hasn’t fit there, and maybe that gets this over the finish line and gets them to take on Palat's contract.
The New Jersey Devils are going to have a salary problem if they trade for Quinn Hughes. The easiest way to fix it is by trading Dougie Hamilton. He won’t have the same value he’s had in previous years, but he’s still just 32 years old. He should be effective for years to come, even if injuries have slowed him down a little.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are desperate for defensive help, especially defensive help that pushes the offense. Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have been fine this season, but the Leafs need more. They are in last place in the Eastern Conference as of this writing, so a desperate move is needed.
Plus, they get off the Max Domi contract. Domi is clearly putting too much pressure on himself at center, and he plays much better in a top-six winger role. He would have value on the Canucks.
For the Canucks, they get Domi, Mercer, and a package of draft picks. That helps them control their destiny a little more.