Wild trade Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren and a No. 1 draft pick to Canucks for superstar Quinn Hughes

The Wild made blockbuster NHL news by by acquiring superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes from Vancouver on Friday night.

The return was steep. Wild President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin sent Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren and a 2026 first-round draft pick to the Canucks in the biggest trade in team history.

Hughes, 26, is under contract through next season on a six-year, $47.1 million deal, and the Wild will be eligible to re-sign Hughes for up to eight years as soon as next summer.

But they made this trade regardless of his long-term outlook with the organization; that’s how franchise-altering Hughes’ arrival is, which is also reflected in the return for the Canucks.

Rossi, Buium and Ohgren were all first-round picks by the Wild with Guerin at the helm: Rossi was the team’s No. 1 center, Buium was getting more and more comfortable on the blue line in his rookie season, and Ohgren had been pinch hitting in the lineup lately as an injury call-up at forward.

“I was shocked, for sure,” Rossi said Friday evening. “But I kind of knew something was going on, especially when you see Billy’s calling you. Then you know something’s going on.

“But I think that’s the business, right, we all play here in the NHL, and we know that might happen.”

“I was making some good progress over the last couple of seasons,” said Rossi, who sat out the past 13 games hurt but mentioned he is ready to play. “But I still have way more in me. So, I really can’t wait to show Vancouver that.”

Still, he is sad to leave.

Not only did the Wild make his dream come true by drafting him ninth overall in 2020, but they supported Rossi during a health scare with myocarditis that put his career in jeopardy before he debuted with the Wild.

“I’m really thankful what they did for me, all the doctors and especially Billy, how he cared about me,” said Rossi, who was in every Wild game the past two seasons. “I was really thankful for that, and I’m still obviously really thankful. Playing your first game and scoring goals and becoming a player what I am right now, I’m really thankful for them.”

Rossi was second in scoring on the Wild a season ago with 60 points, including 24 goals, so his exit creates a hole up the middle that’s magnified by veterans Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Foligno and Vinnie Hinostroza being injured.

He was recognized as the NHL’s best defenseman in 2024 after leading the position with 92 points and posting a career-high 17 goals. A power-play specialist, Hughes is coming off a 16-goal, 76-point campaign and has two goals and 21 assists through 26 games this season with the last-place Canucks. He leads the league in average ice time at 27 minutes, 26 seconds.

Despite being Vancouver’s captain, Hughes’ future became uncertain with the team struggling and Hughes getting closer to his 2027 free agency. The Florida native is in his eighth NHL season after being drafted seventh overall out of Michigan in 2018.

The older brother to Jack and Luke Hughes, who are also first-round draft picks and teammates with New Jersey, Hughes has also represented the United States at the world junior championship and world championship.

He was supposed to skate in the 4 Nations Face-Off last season but had to miss it due to injury. Not only did Guerin oversee that tournament for the Americans, but Guerin is also putting together Team USA for the upcoming Winter Olympics, and Hughes has already been named to the roster.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound left-shot defenseman has made the NHL’s First All-Star Team (2024) and Second All-Star Team (2025) and became the third-fastest defenseman in NHL history to hit 300 assists, behind only Bobby Orr and Brian Leetch. Overall, Hughes has 61 goals and 371 assists for 432 points in 459 career games plus another 26 points in 30 playoff appearances.

Ohgren, 21, was the 19th overall pick in 2022 and bounced back and forth between the Wild and their minor-league affiliate in Des Moines. He has three goals in 46 NHL games, and in 18 games this season has not scored.

Buium, who turned 20 on Sunday, is an offensive defenseman and has won gold medals at the past two world junior championships with Team USA during his college career at Denver. He has three goals and 11 assists in 31 games this season, but is a minus-9.

After completing the most expensive years of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts last summer, the Wild were expected to use their newfound salary-cap space to remake their lineup in free agency.

But with most of the top targets staying with their current teams, the Wild remained patient and figured they would use their flexibility in-season to adjust. Guerin, who is scheduled to speak to the media before Saturday’s game against Ottawa, was hopeful that opportunity would come along, even citing blockbuster trades involving Mikko Rantanen and Matthew Tkachuk in recent seasons as proof that they can happen.