On Friday night, the NHL saw a blockbuster trade that doesn't happen often as the Vancouver Canucks traded defenseman Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild. There had been some rumblings that the Canucks were considering moving some players but Hughes was not expected to be the first one.
Hughes is one of the best young defenseman in the league with 75 or more points in each of the past three seasons and averaging close to a point per game this season with 23 through 26 games. At only 26 years old, he has plenty of great hockey ahead of him and every team in the NHL would love to have a player like him.
However, on Saturday Pierre LeBrun clarified a tweet from Friday night that the Canucks received bonafided trade offers from six teams. On Saturday he said who those teams were the New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and to "some degree, Carolina and Buffalo".
Confirmed teams that tried on Quinn Hughes: New Jersey, Detroit, Rangers; and to some degree, Carolina and Buffalo. https://t.co/fRQnTxnmCC
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 13, 2025
It isn't surprising to see the Carolina Hurricanes mentioned in this group as they are a team seemingly always in trade discussions, while the New Jersey Devils have two of Quinn's brothers currently on the roster and Quinn has said he wants to play with them at some point in his career.
The Rangers are trying to turn their fortunes around while Detroit is trying to continue to build on their success this season.
Buffalo Sabres making an offer for Quinn Hughes is surprising to say the least
It is the Buffalo Sabres, though, that is the most surprising, considering their history over the last decade, but what the franchise is currently facing. Let's start with the current state, as there are reportedly internal discussions happening about replacing general manager Kevyn Adams.
It is interesting that Adams would have that kind of runway to even make an offer if Terry Pegula and the franchise were even considering making a change. It also raises the question of how much Jarmo Kekalainen was involved in constructing the offer.
During Adams' tenure as general manager, and even with the general managers prior to him during this playoff drought, there haven't been many clear win-now type trades. The reason is that the Sabres have never really been in contention to make those types of moves.
A trade for Hughes would certainly fall into this category, but he would be a franchise-changing type of player. He has the talent to transform a franchise, and assuming Rasmus Dahlin or Tage Thompson was not part of the trade package, it could help them get back into the playoff conversation.
However, the Sabres would have to assume there is almost no chance Hughes signs a long-term deal in Buffalo and they just bought themselves maybe a two-year window to show they can be a winning franchise.
If the Buffalo Sabres were able to trade for Quinn Hughes, it would easily been one of their biggest trades in franchise history. The shock would have been even greater than what was felt across the league with the announcement that he was heading to the Minnesota Wild.
As great as it was to hear that the Buffalo Sabres are at least making an attempt to improve the roster, it is hard to imagine they were serious contenders for Quinn Hughes.