Whether the Vancouver Canucks — or their fans — like it or not, the uncertainty around Quinn Hughes‘ long-term future will be omnipresent throughout the 2025-26 season.
Hughes, who will become an unrestricted free agent at the close of the 2026-27 season, can sign a contract extension as early as next July 1.
Though with the disappointment of last season, the inability of the team to emerge as a consistent contender during his tenure and the prospect of playing alongside his brothers in New Jersey, much has been said about what the Canucks must do in order to convince their captain to stay.
On Wednesday, as training camp opens, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford discussed the lengths the team is willing to go to ensure this season is a winning one.
“Obviously, Quinn’s future is so important to this franchise,” Rutherford said. “At the end of the day, he doesn’t have to make a decision yet. Sometimes in life, you think one thing in one month, and something else in another month.
“It’s always important to win, especially in this situation. We’re a little bit caught in between. How far do you go to do that, which means how many draft picks do you want to trade, how (much) of the future do you want to trade, because you could do that, and he could make a decision to go somewhere else, not related to how the team does. Or you just go all in, and see where it goes.”
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The defenceman was selected to be captain ahead of the 2023-24 season, where he led the team to their best finish in nearly a decade, capturing the Pacific Division title before falling to the Stanley Cup-finalist Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the second round.
Instead of carrying that momentum into the following season, however, off-ice drama and on-ice struggles led the team to miss the playoffs for the eighth time in 10 years.
Hughes himself classified last season as a failure, but has also made it clear that he’s not sure how he’ll feel come next summer and has stressed that his focus remains on having a successful year.
The entire Canucks organization is banking on it and hopes their off-season moves have been enough.
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“We’re always going to try to improve the team, to have a better team,” Rutherford said, while adding that the cost to bring in impact players has risen considerably for general manager Patrik Allvin. “As you (add players), your team is a lot better, your team has success, and (Hughes) may, for different reasons, probably reasons that we would all consider doing, not just him. He may consider that he would prefer to be somewhere different, geographically, for example.
“The biggest topic we all talk about is he wants to play with his brothers. I think everyone knows that by now, right? But it doesn’t mean it has to happen two years from now, or one year from now. It could happen at the end of their careers, so they (can) say they played with each other. There are so many things. You could spin this thing 100 different ways and there’s only one guy that’s going to make that decision, and he’ll make it for whatever reason.
“We do have a responsibility, Quinn Hughes or not, to put the best team on the ice that we can.”
The Canucks open their season against the Calgary Flames on Oct. 9. Pre-season games begin on Sunday.
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