This is Getting way more Ugly than we Thought...

Sunday night at the Rogers Arena, the Vancouver Canucks head into this game with no wins in their last nine games and dead last in the NHL, and the player that fans used to chant for walks out of the other tunnel wearing a Minnesota Wild jersey. Quinn Hughes, 432 points in 459 games as a Canuck, the 15th captain in franchise history, a Norris Trophy winner and on Sunday he plays his first game in Vancouver since the trade 317 days after it happened. But Quinn Hughes is only one of the stories heading into Sunday. The three players that Vancouver acquired in the Minnesota trade walk in to play their former team with one player going as far as saying that franchise showed them no respect. So who gets cheered and who gets booed and who looked at wishing this trade never happened. The trade of Quinn Hughes was a lot messier than people remember. Start with the team Quinn Hughes left behind. The Canucks are 2-9-1. That is 5 points in 12 games, the 32nd in a league of 32 teams. They have not won since October 3rd, when they beat Calgary 4-1. That is 22 days by Sunday. In 9 games since, they are 0-8-1. Thursday, it was 5-2 to Detroit. Brock Besser's words after it, it's embarrassing. General Manager Ryan Johnson was asked on Donnie and Dolly whether this season has been harder than he expected. He answered with two words, not whatsoever. That is the building that Quinn Hughes is walking back into. But how did he get out of it? Rewind. Hughes was drafted 7th overall in 2018. In September of 2023, he became the 15th captain in Canucks history. And in 23-24, he became the first Vancouver Canucks defenseman to win the Norris Trophy. The same spring, the Vancouver Canucks were one away from the Western Conference Final. By the time he left, he had 432 points in 459 games. That is the most points and the most assists of any defenseman in franchise history. That's when the wheels came off. By December, the Canucks were last in the NHL, and Hughes had never asked for a trade. But he was non-committal about staying, and former president Jim Rutherford has said that before the season, he knew Hughes would not stay past this contract. On Friday, December 12th, 2025, it was done. Quinn Hughes to Minnesota. Back came Marco Rossi, Zeev Boyum, Liam Olgren, and a first round pick in the 2026 draft that the Canucks used to select Adam Navagna, pick number 24. everybody was gracious on the way out. On November 28th, a couple of weeks before the trade, one Canucks writer tweeted, that's twice now where Quinn Hughes had just sort of lit up on a loose puck situation on the power play. This is where a lot of the boos will come from. Hughes spoke before his final game against his old team back on April 2nd. His words on the room he left, honestly, I don't even really know a lot of their guys. After the game, a 5-2 wild win in St. Paul, he said definitely a little weird but you move on and happy to be here right now he was a plus four with an assist and played 24 minutes and 48 seconds so what happens this sunday at 7 p.m pacific that is what everyone has been arguing about with the return of Quinn Hughes the province ran a fan poll with the headline would you boo on S&P Canucks imploding within already Hughes moves away Anthony Daly polled their listeners on whether Vancouver would trade Hughes the way Ottawa treated Brady Tkachuk last week. Here is the comparison everyone is making. On October 21st, Brady Tkachuk went back to Ottawa with Florida. The crowd booed through his entire tribute video, but Brady asked out. He said it himself. I know for myself, it was 100% my decision. Hughes, as far as anyone has reported, never asked to leave. That is the difference. The Canucks, for this part, are not ready to boo. Pedersen on Saturday. I hope it's a good reception for him coming back he added i'm sure it's a lot of emotions for him and what is the plan on the ice same article obviously try not to get him the puck but he's a really good player my take is listen you cheer for the seven years that he gave to this organization but you can also boo if that is the way you feel for comments coming around not knowing everyone in the locker room despite being their captain but do not boo him every single time he touches the puck because it's not the same situation as Brady Tkachuk. And Hughes told reporters Saturday in Seattle that his two feet are planted in Minnesota, and that something could happen soon. But now to the player that has the most to say about his former team in Marco Rossi. Rossi was the ninth pick in the 2020 draft. He signed a three-year, $15 million deal with the Wild on August 22, 2025, a summer after trade rumors that Vancouver was a part of. In 2024-25, he had 60 points in 82 games, second on the Wild. And in the playoffs, he told Michael Russo of The Athletic, I thought I had a really good regular season, I mean 60 points and then just after one game. On how the Wild handled his contract, I don't feel the same energy. When my contract was coming up, and then this one, it just showed me they had, like, no respect for me. To be fair to Rossi, he was not that harsh right away after the trade he said that's business that's part of it and about vancouver when i got traded you were sad but on the other side you were really happy knowing vancouver really wanted you rossi got his first look at the wild on april 2nd in saint paul he played 17 minutes and 35 seconds had three shots on goal and finished minus three and a five to two loss this season he had five points in 10 games three goals two assists and he missed two games with an illness before coming back Thursday against Detroit. Now to the other two players, Zev Boyum and Liam Ohgren. Both drafted in the first round by the Minnesota Wild. Zev was drafted 12th overall, while Liam was drafted at 19th. On the Sunday after the trade, Zeve Boyum's first night in a Canucks house, he was asked if the Wild had misled him. His answer, I don't think anything they told me was a lie. I really don't. He called Wild's general manager, Bill Guerin, an unbelievable person. And then he said, I'm going to do my best to show the Canucks that they made a good trade. Guerin sighed, I love that kid, but you have to give something to get something. It has not been easy. Boyum signed an eight-year, $75 million extension in September. In his first 12 games this season, he has zero goals, three assists, and is a minus seven. Over the last four games, he has got moved from the top pair down to the third. He said of himself. At the start of the year, I just felt like I was almost like hesitant with everything, and I hate being a player who's up and down. Ogren had 2 goals and 3 assists in 11 games, and Thursday he was a healthy scratch. In Minnesota, he played 18 minutes and never scored a point, a 9.32 a night. In St. Paul, Boyum played 23 minutes and 1 second and finished even. Ogren played 15 minutes and 19 seconds and finished a plus minus 1. Neither had a point, which means Sunday is the first time any of the three get to do something about it in front of their own fans. So who is winning the trade so far? Hughes has 13 points in 11 games and plays 27 minutes and 24 seconds a night. Rossi, Boehm, and Ogren have 5, 3, and 5. That is 13 points combined. Last season with the Wild, Hughes had 53 points in 48 games. During the regular season, 15 points in 11 playoff games. The Wild went to the second round. Meanwhile, the Wilders 6-3-2 and the Canucks are the worst team in the league. And the first round pick Vancouver got back became Adam Novotny who's playing incredible in the OHL. Is this a bad trade? Hell no, it's not. This was four young assets coming back to the Vancouver Canucks for a guy in Quinn Hughes, one of the top defensemen in the NHL that was non-committal to staying with your organization. Hughes has 11 assists in 11 games. The Canucks are going to try not to give him the puck. And a team that has not won in 9 games is going to find out whether the old captain is good for them or just a ghost. Let me know down in the comments though, when Quinn Hughes touches the puck on Sunday night, are you going to cheer or boo for him? Is this going to be one of the Brady Tkachuk situation all over again? Here is what I'm going to be watching during this game. Of course, the tribute video that is going to be played for Quinn Hughes and how the crowd reacts. The first time Quinn Hughes touches the puck, and how the crowd reacts to not only this moment, but their former captain coming into a team that is winless in their last nine, grasping to bring home a win to this home crowd. Nothing is going to be normal about this game, but it's going to be one to watch.