It looked like Quinn Hughes was off the trade market and speculation would need to wait until further notice. But with the Vancouver Canucks reeling into Gavin McKenna sweepstakes territory, there's a chance that Hughes may not look so untouchable.
The Detroit Red Wings would be a natural fit for Quinn Hughes, as Jeff Marek and Pierre McGuire recently pointed out on The Sheet.
"Detroit's gotta be in the mix"
— The Sheet with Jeff Marek (@thesheethockey) December 1, 2025
Pierre McGuire and @JeffMarek dig into the possibility of Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings taking a serious run at Quinn Hughes
Presented by @SportsOnPrimeCA #LGRW #TheSheet pic.twitter.com/GsjTp8PkCP
Fans can get excited about the possibility of Quinn Hughes wearing the Winged Wheel and lining up alongside players like Moritz Seider. But if we're going to be realistic about this, the chances of Hughes suiting up for the Red Wings any time soon, if the Canucks start listening to offers on him, are next to none.
The asking price for Quinn Hughes would be too high for the Detroit Red Wings
For one, a rebuilding team like the Canucks, should they host a fire sale that involves Hughes, would likely require the Wings to part ways with a first-round pick, one youngster already playing in the NHL, and one high-end, NHL-ready prospect.
Hypothetically, a trade would involve players like Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (NHL-ready), Axel Sandin-Pellikka (youngster in the NHL), and a 2026 first-round pick for Hughes. If it wasn't one of those two names mentioned, it would be equivalents, like Marco Kasper and William Wallinder, just to name a couple.
Such a trade may also involve a veteran player looking for a change of scenery, like Jonatan Berggren. Fans may say, "Yeah, who wouldn't make that trade?" But we need to take Yzerman's track record into account and his vision for rebuilding the Red Wings.
Yzerman might have made a blockbuster trade for Alex DeBrincat in 2023, but the Red Wings' top prospects were mainly still developing. That's no longer the case, as players like Brandsegg-Nygard and Sandin-Pellikka have proven they can play in the NHL. It's the Yzerplan at work, and there's no way Yzerman is disrupting that plan, regardless of who ends up on the trading block.
Steve Yzerman will keep building the Detroit Red Wings with the core he's drafted
Even if there's no way Steve Yzerman would give up draft capital and high-end prospects for a perennial Norris Trophy contender like Quinn Hughes, that's not bad news. No, the Red Wings aren't a great hockey team, but they also proved that the Yzerplan is working for the Wings simply leading the Atlantic Division at various times so far this season.
Detroit has gone on winning streaks and points streaks, and, at times, looked like one of the better-scoring teams in the NHL. With the progress the Yzerplan has made, but with the Wings still looking like a fringe contender overall, trading for Hughes isn't something Yzerman would do unless he could somehow get him for a bargain deal, like a second-round pick and high-end prospects who are at least a year away from debuting in the NHL.
If the Wings made the playoffs last year, then Yzerman may strongly consider someone like Hughes, as he'd be looking for one last puzzle piece to make a deep playoff run. But with the Wings still searching for their first playoff appearance in a decade and with the Yzerplan still incomplete, Hughes isn't coming to town.