The hockey world was blown open when the Vancouver Canucks pulled the trigger on the Quinn Hughes trade. The star defenseman will be staying in the Western Conference, heading to the Central Division, where he will play for the Minnesota Wild.
And Minnesota certainly paid the high price Vancouver was reportedly asking for. In return for Hughes, the Wild sent over Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round pick.
The prize of this deal for the Canucks is Buium. The top defensive prospect has shown early offensive promise, posting 14 points in 31 games. His defense has taken some time to adapt to the NHL, but he has shown signs of improvement since the beginning of the season. He won't replace Hughes overnight, but he has the potential to become a top defenseman.
With that, other fanbases begin to wonder what that package could've looked like for their team. Which of their top players or prospects could've matched that package? Could anyone else have matched it? For the Flyers, it's easy to see why they likely never had a shot to make a trade for Hughes.
Yeah, if Vancouver got Buium in the final deal, the Flyers weren't gonna have a serious shot at getting him unless they were willing to give up Michkov or Martone. I never heard any indications they were gonna budge on those guys.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) December 13, 2025
Flyers would've needed to part with elite talent for Hughes
As O'Connor mentioned, any package for Hughes likely starts with one of Matvei Michkov or Porter Martone. Based on how Danny Briere and the Flyers have approached this rebuild, there is no chance they would budge on two key pieces. While Hughes would give them a superstar defenseman, they would be depleting themselves of even more forward talent.
If not Michkov, someone like Tyson Foerster may have been on the table. Even with his current injury, his clear offensive talent would've been something the Canucks needed. And if they were set on replacing Hughes with a current NHL defenseman, that conversation could've started around Cam York or possibly Emil Andrae and an up-and-coming prospect.
For the Flyers to turn into the kind of team they want to be, there has to be a level of patience. Building a team that can turn into a long-time contender doesn't happen overnight. They cannot give up on young players or prospects before they know what they are going to be.
The gamble on Hughes would mean hoping that his addition and a potential subtraction of high-end talent would essentially cancel each other out. But the Flyers are not at a point where they can make that kind of risk.
They are playing better than expected and have proven on multiple occasions that they can hang with some of the best teams in the league. They aren't at the point where they can consistently beat those teams, though.
Having Hughes would've been great. But not with the price they would have needed to pay to make it happen.