Canucks GM all but confirms Devils have huge edge in Quinn Hughes negotiations

The 2024-25 NHL season was one to forget for the Vancouver Canucks, to say the least. Just one year removed from a Pacific Division title, the Canucks not only missed the playoffs, but wound up dealing with so much dysfunction to the point where they traded J.T. Miller away.

There isn't much to get excited about with this team when looking ahead toward the future. Elias Pettersson looked like a shell of his former star self, Thatcher Demko struggled in his limited reps, and even Brock Boeser could be gone after this summer as a free agent.

The one saving grace in Vancouver is Quinn Hughes - or so we thought. Based on what president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford had to say in his end-of-season press conference, Hughes' future in Vancouver is entirely up in the air.

The Canucks obviously want Hughes, the team's captain and the reigning Norris Trophy winner, to stick around long-term, but whether that happens or not is not entirely up to them. Rutherford wound up giving Canucks fans reason to feel very pessimistic about their chances to keep Hughes around due to a circumstance completely out of his control.

Devils have edge Canucks can't match in upcoming Quinn Hughes negotiations

While money talks, Rutherford revealed that Hughes wants to play with his brothers Jack and Luke, who are both currently on the New Jersey Devils. The Canucks can offer him a truckload of money, but as Rutherford made clear, it might not come down to that. It could come down to Hughes wanting to reunite with his brothers.

"It may not boil down to money with him. He has said before he wants to play with his brothers. That would be partly out of our control. In our control if we brought his brothers here."

Yes, you read that right. Rutherford says that keeping Hughes around would be in Vancouver's complete control if they're able to bring both of his brothers to the Canucks. As great as that sounds, doing so would be easier said than done.

Luke is a free agent at the end of this season, but he'll be entering restricted free agency, meaning the Devils control whether he'll be back in New Jersey entirely. Jack wrapped up the third year of his eight-year, $64 million deal, meaning he's got five years left in New Jersey. Sure, the Devils could trade him, but they wouldn't look to do that, and the Canucks don't have the assets to get that deal done anyway.

To put it simply, the odds of the Canucks getting one, let alone both Hughes brothers to join Quinn barring something unforeseen are practically zero. Given that, if Quinn's primary objective is to play with his brothers when he hits free agency, the Devils could find themselves in the driver's seat. Plus, if Quinn wants to win, the Devils are in a better position to do that than Vancouver long-term anyway.

Rutherford continued by saying his franchise can ill-afford to lose a player of Quinn's caliber. He's right about that, but again, if Quinn wants to play with his brothers, there just isn't much of anything Rutherford can do about that. It sounds like the Devils have a huge edge that the Canucks just can't match no matter how badly they might want to.