Moments after winning the Stanley Cup in 2022, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog proclaimed his advice to other contending teams in an on-ice interview:
“Find a Cale Makar somewhere,” he said.
Vancouver Canucks fans gleaned comfort from that statement. Obviously there’s only one Cale Makar, but there’s also only one man who can compare to him, and that’s Quinn Hughes.
The franchise has yet to win the Cup in its 55 years of existence, so the fanbase is as hungry as any for a taste of success.
The Canucks have been in recession for two seasons now, but it wasn’t until they traded Hughes to the Minnesota Wild last Friday that management used the word “rebuild.” It was at that point that it really sunk in: The Pettersson-Hughes era of the Canucks would never win the Stanley Cup.
I grew up a major Canucks fan. I had my childhood bedroom painted Canucks colors in two different houses. I wore my jersey literally 24/7 during the 2011 playoff run. I could name every player on the roster and tell you fun facts about most of them before I hit double digits in age.
Reporters are supposed to be neutral, so I don’t outwardly cheer for them the way I used to. But I still have a soft spot for the team that made me fall in love with hockey.
I and the rest of my generation were lucky to have Henrik and Daniel Sedin in Vancouver their entire careers. Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, whom we also grew up idolizing, are on the back nines of their respective careers having each only played for one team, too. Maybe it was an unrealistic ask, but to my generation, first-ballot Hall of Famers spend their entire careers with one team.
We could have accepted a Martin Brodeur-type situation for Hughes — 1,259 games with the New Jersey Devils and seven with the St. Louis Blues — but trading a Norris Trophy winner at age 26 stung.
Instead, it feels like the first Erik Karlsson trade, which sent him from the Ottawa Senators to the San Jose Sharks.
As a Senator, Karlsson was either first or second in Norris Trophy voting in precisely half of his full seasons. He was the face of the franchise — a franchise that, like the Canucks, fell from being a Stanley Cup contender to a draft lottery hopeful in the blink of an eye.
When Karlsson got traded, his game fell apart (aside from his one random 101-point season). That necessitated another trade, this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins, where his struggles resumed.
During his Senators years, there wasn’t a person in the hockey world that didn’t view him as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Now, that status is very much up for debate.
Hughes is still an easy player to cheer for. There are precisely two defensemen in the world that can dance through the neutral zone the way he does, and the other is the aforementioned Makar (who probably will retire having played for just one team).
It was fascinating to see him do the same with the Wild on Sunday, culminating in a goal in his debut. It was equally gratifying to see Zeev Buium, the key piece of the return, tally a goal and an assist less than seven minutes into his Canucks tenure.
Swapping your captain for two budding stars, a great prospect and a first-round pick is a step toward a future where the team’s fans won’t be at the butt end of every joke involving the lack of cups or rings. Being in last place in the NHL standings, they could also have a shot at their first-ever No. 1 pick.
Sports are all about hope, and that’s exactly what this trade gives Canucks fans — even though it stings in the present. And the Quinn Hughes Reverse Retro jersey that’s hanging in my closet? That just became a vintage collector’s item.