Wild President Bill Guerin delighted at trade that landed Quinn Hughes from Vancouver

Bill Guerin was rolling meatballs Friday when his phone rang with an answer he and the Wild had been seeking for mere days ... but a transformation they’d been for eyeing for years.

After peeling off the latex gloves he was wearing while preparing his wife Kara’s recipe for Christmas Eve, Guerin heard from his counterpart with Vancouver, Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford. He confirmed the two sides had a deal that was like Christmas morning, midnight on New Year’s Day, and the Fourth of July fireworks all rolled into one for the Wild.

“There was a fist-pump involved,” Guerin dead-panned.

Over Guerin’s meatballs, the Wild made the biggest trade in franchise history, acquiring superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes in the prime of his career.

They sent Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium and Liam Ohgren to the Canucks as well as a first-round draft pick in a blockbuster that came together after Guerin contacted Rutherford on Monday while leaving a scouting trip in New York.

Through eight seasons, Hughes became the greatest defenseman Vancouver has ever had and its captain after he was drafted seventh overall in 2018.

He won a Norris Trophy in 2024 as the NHL’s best defender after a career-high 92 points led the position league-wide.

The Canucks believed moving Hughes in the first half of this season would maximize their return, and multiple teams expressed interest.

But the Wild’s offer was the best and although Hughes didn’t have any trade or movement protections in his contract, Vancouver wanted to accommodate him, and Hughes was on board with joining the Wild.

He will make his Wild debut Sunday vs. Boston at Grand Casino Arena, with Guerin flying Saturday afternoon to pick up Hughes in New Jersey where he was with the Canucks.

“He’s a special player,” said Guerin, who as general manager of Team USA has already named Hughes to its roster for next year’s Olympics after Hughes had to miss last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off due to injury. “These opportunities don’t present themselves all that often. So, we feel fortunate, and I just love the way the deal went down because I really, I really think we got what we were looking for, and I think Vancouver got what they were looking for.

“They got three really good young players that are going to help build their team, and we got a franchise defenseman.”

The final trade was the Wild’s initial offer, and Guerin felt it wouldn’t have been finalized if Buium wasn’t included.

Buium projects to become a similar player as Hughes, but he’s a rookie and Hughes is already at the top of his game.

“If Quinn Hughes wasn’t available, they’d still be here,” Guerin said, “and I was totally fine with that. But you have to give something to get something.”

Although the Wild could still use help up the middle, the emergence of rookie Danila Yurov enabled the Wild to lose their No.1 center in Rossi.

Yurov had taken Rossi’s spot alongside Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, when healthy.

“I’m not worried about our center depth at all,” Guerin said. “We still have flexibility. Who knows what we can do in the future, but I’m really comfortable with where we are.”

The more intriguing question is Hughes’ future.

Asked if he received assurance that Hughes would re-sign with the Wild, Guerin said, “You can’ make promises. After the deal is done, talking to Quinn and Quinn’s agent, I think Quinn will really like it here. He’s a hockey nut. He watches every game. He knows what’s going on in the league.

“Getting to know him through the Four Nations process, he just loves hockey, and I think there’s no better market than Minnesota to be a hockey player. I believe in our team and our culture and our organization and our market, our fans. Hockey’s in the fabric here, and I think he’ll really like.”

The Wild do have an advantage in trying to re-sign Hughes, which can happen as soon as July 1.

Even with Kaprizov’s record-breaking eight-year, $136 million kicking in next year, the Wild should still have enough cap space to keep Hughes when his current contract expires after next season.