In this edition of Vancouver Canucks News and Rumours, general manager Patrik Allvin and president Jim Rutherford held their end-of-season media availability on Monday morning, and several things were brought up. Among the topics were Elias Pettersson’s struggles, Quinn Hughes and Rick Tocchet‘s future with the team, the status of Tom Willander’s entry-level contract, whether Brock Boeser will enter free agency and more. Let’s dive in.
Canucks Will Try to Extend Hughes; Rutherford Hints At Bringing Jack & Luke to Vancouver
The big topic that has been on everyone’s mind, probably since the New Jersey Devils drafted both Jack and Luke Hughes, was whether Quinn would join his brothers in New Jersey the minute he became an unrestricted free agent (UFA). Well, that day is coming soon. He still has two more years on his current (very budget-friendly) contract, but he’s eligible for a long-term extension on July 1, 2026. While Rutherford said the Canucks will have the cap space to give him a lucrative offer to remain in Vancouver, he also said it might not just be about the money, but who is on the team.
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“The one thing that we will be sure of is that we will have enough cap space to offer him the kind of contract that he deserves. That’s the one thing we can prepare for. And it may not boil down to money with him. He’s said before he wants to play with his brothers, and that would be partly out of our control, in our control, if we brought his brothers here. So there’s many moving parts here. [I] agree 100% this franchise cannot afford to lose a guy like Quinn Hughes, and we will do everything we can to keep him here. But at the end of the day, it’ll be it’ll be his decision.”
Yes, you read that right, Rutherford hinted at trying to acquire Jack and Luke Hughes from the Devils in order to keep his captain around long-term. That would be a heck of a blockbuster, and something that probably shouldn’t have been brought up due to the possibility of tampering, which Rutherford quickly realized: “Well, we got to be careful with tampering here, so we’ll just leave it at that. I probably crossed the line anyways.”
In the end, Hughes is a huge part of the Canucks and will be for the next two years. Hopefully, it’s many, many years beyond that, too, because there is zero chance that they would be able to replace him.
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