Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard the Quinn Hughes trade rumors. It looks like Vancouver may be looking to quickly retool, and Hughes would be their best trade chip to fuel a youth movement. Hughes is a top three defenseman in the NHL and would return an absolute haul at just 26 years old with another year left on his contract. Naturally the Rangers were connected, because the Rangers are always connected to big names. As per usual, I have some thoughts on these Quinn Hughes trade rumors.
1. First let’s dive into the essentials: Hughes, a left defenseman, just turned 26 and has this year and next remaining on his bargain $7.85 million contract. He will be an unrestricted free agent come 2027 and is due for a massive pay raise. Hughes, along with Cale Makar and Adam Fox, is one of the few near point per game defensemen in the NHL. After seasons of 17-75-92 and 16-60-76, Hughes is off to a “slow start” with “only” 2-20-22 in 25 games this season. Vancouver is a disaster right now, much like the Rangers last year, so team impacts matter on his stat line.
2. On the surface, this looks like a perfect match for the Rangers. They need a puck moving left defenseman, and Hughes fits that bill. He’s also an star player, which makes New York the “obvious choice” if you ask any of the 200 Hockey Men that seemingly put the Rangers into every rumor ever. So the Quinn Hughes trade rumors including the Rangers make sense from that regard. There’s a roster fit, the Rangers have the pieces to acquire him, and he’s Quinn Hughes. So naturally he’s going to be connected to the Blueshirts.
3. To be fair, the Rangers do have the pieces to make this work. We also have a somewhat recent trade that we can use as a comparable: The Erik Karlsson trade from Ottawa to San Jose. The Sharks acquired Karlsson and forward Francis Perron in exchange for forwards Chris Tierney and Rudolfs Balcers, defenseman Dylan DeMelo, prospect Josh Norris, first and second round picks, plus two conditional picks based on contract extensions.
For what it’s worth, this trade blew up in San Jose’s face because the first round pick was unprotected and wound up being the third overall pick in 2020, Tim Stutzle.
4. Focusing on the players moved in the deal, Tierney (2nd round pick in 2012) was a 24 year old forward who had just put up 17-23-40 with Ottawa before the trade. Balcers (5th, 2015) was an AHL forward at the time, putting up 23-25-48 in 67 AHL games that year. DeMelo was a 25 year old bottom pair defenseman. Norris was a former first round pick who was playing well at Michigan.
Perron was essentially just a body moved to make roster sizing work out.
The picks are the picks, and that wound up biting San Jose because they were terrible after they made the trade.
The Quinn Hughes trade rumors make sense on the surface
5. Given the lessons learned from the Karlsson trade, let’s take a step back and see what the comparable cost is. This trade begins with Alexis Lafreniere, Braden Schneider, and a 2026 1st round pick. This is where things get interesting, because given where they are/were in their careers, Lafreniere is better than Tierney and Schneider is better than DeMelo. That’s objective fact.
Ignoring Balcers (AHL body), Perron (AHL body), and the conditional picks (impossible to predict), the big question is whether the collective difference is worth the inclusion of the other piece in the trade (Norris). Lafreniere is a top six winger, despite what Rangers fans think. Schneider is a top four defenseman, though he’s a third pairing defenseman on the Rangers due to roster construction.
6. Lafreniere and Schneider have been on Vancouver’s radar for what feels like forever. Schneider was one of the original asks in the JT Miller deal, which naturally was rejected by Drury. Lafreniere’s former agent–Emilie Castonguay–is also the Assistant GM in Vancouver. This feels like a natural fit, which is why the Quinn Hughes trade rumors include the Rangers right now.
7. Let’s assume Schneider, Lafreniere, and a 2026 1st rounder are the framework to make this work. The Rangers would probably need to include a sweetener. Schneider and Lafreniere are objectively better than their Karlsson trade counterparts of Tierney and DeMelo, but not good enough to bridge the gap to forego including a good prospect like Josh Norris was in the Karlsson trade.
This is where I think Brennan Othmann can be used as that sweetener. He’s a former first round pick who has a tremendous shot. It’s clear he’s not going to be a Ranger and needs a change of scenery. His trade value has plummeted, but he’s still a former first round pick with at least one NHL quality skill. This is why he’s a sweetener and not a trade centerpiece.
Without accounting for minor pieces and conditional picks, the essentials of this trade would be Hughes to the Rangers for Lafreniere, Schneider, Othmann, and a top-10 protected 2026 1st round pick. The Rangers have their own pick and Carolina’s pick, so let’s go with the higher of the two, still top-10 protected.
There’s always a but
8. There’s always a but, and the Quinn Hughes trade rumors are no different. The Rangers are in the middle of their own retool, looking to get younger and faster. Hughes is a star, so he would certainly fit that bill. He’s a massive upgrade on Schneider, which is objective fact. The question is whether the Rangers can afford to include their only top-six forward who is under 25 years old.
Keep in mind, the Rangers are already struggling to replace Chris Kreider’s production. They also have to deal with likely replacing Artemi Panarin’s production.
Hughes is a star, no doubt. He’d be the best player in this theoretical trade. But on the Rangers he’d be their second pair LD, not top pair, and one of him or Adam Fox would be shifted to PP2. That’s fine, of course. You acquire the star and figure it out later. Gavrikov-Fox and Hughes-Borgen would be perhaps the best top four defense in hockey. This is only being brought up because roles matter and honestly aren’t talked about enough.
9. The wild card is Gabe Perreault. To be abundantly clear: Vancouver would not get both Perreault and Lafreniere. The Rangers will only make this trade if they know Perreault can replace Lafreniere’s production. Personally, I think Perreault exceeds Lafreniere’s production, but that’s just me.
The Quinn Hughes trade rumors involving the Rangers do pass the sniff test. It’s not a slam dunk trade though. There would need to be another plan to replace Lafreniere’s production, either with Gabe Perreault or somewhere else, while also still working on the Panarin situation.
10. In the end, if it’s Lafreniere, Schneider, Othmann, and a 1st for Hughes as the basic framework (with other pieces to balance things out), then I think Chris Drury has to make this trade. Hughes would be the best player in the deal and he’s just 26 years old.
There’s no such thing as having too many puck movers on the blue line. Also just because someone is a puck mover or a defenseman that puts up monster points doesn’t mean they are bad defensively. Fox and Hughes are two of the top three defenseman in the game, and if they wind up on the same team alongside Vlad Gavrikov, then the Rangers would have the best blue line in hockey.
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