Was Minnesota Realistically The Only Team Who Could Acquire Quinn Hughes?

It has been a good few days now since former Canucks captain Quinn Hughes was traded to the Minnesota Wild, and having fully evaluated the trade and other possible deals, it seems Minnesota had the perfect ensemble to acquire him, and no other team could really get close.

For Minnesota, having guys like Marco Rossi, a solid top six C who has a lot more developmental years, and a good contract, alongside Zeev Buium, a very exciting first round defenseman was massive, and probably some of the best and most tradeable capital in the league. In terms of what they gave up, they had the perfect pieces in which it wouldn’t be a total detriment to their team, and looking around the league, there was probably no other team who had assets good enough to give away.

A package like Buium, Rossi, Ohgren, and a first rounder is more than ideal for a confusing Canucks team; sure they had to give up a generational talent and captain, but getting Buium in the system, a guy who could turn out to be as close as Hughes in the future, and Rossi who could bud into something great, the Canucks probably weren't going to get a more sensible offer, and for Bill Guerin, the pieces aligned perfectly.

Looking around the league, if teams like Chicago or Detroit were going to package up a similar deal, you’re looking at packages like Artyom Levshunov, Frank Nazar, and Oliver Moore, similarly in Detroit, Axel Sandin-Pelikka, Marco Kasper and Emmet Finnie, packages that just don’t make sense with how their rebuilds are going, and would destroy a franchise for what could be a great future.

In Minnesota’s case, they have the playoff ready lineup, they have the assets to give up, and they have the roster security to have made the big move. They might need to work to get another top 6 guy to replace Rossi, but unlike any other team in the league, the give up for what they got Hughes for, a guy who will boost your cup hopes by at least 50% wasn’t actually that big, and was a very easy to give up deal. Some fans may think getting rid of Buium was a stretch, but replacing him directly with Hughes is a no brainer, you were going to get rid of Rossi last summer, and Ohgren isn’t all that, in terms of blockbuster deals, Minnesota got QWuinn Hughes for a bargain and people don’t realise it. One thing is for sure that Minnesota won't be complaining about a single part of this deal, and it is hard to see any other team making a better deal without setting their franchise back massively.