Real Kyper & Bourne - Canucks Move On from Quinn Hughes + Wild's Next Move

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne are joined by Jason Brough (5:18) co-host of Halford & Brough to chat about the Vancouver Canucks trading away Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild, his assessment on the return with Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren and Zeev Buium plus a first-round pick in 2026, the commitment from Hughes' former teammates for the Canucks organization, who's the next leader in the locker room, if the organization is fully transitioning into a rebuild, and if there's still confidence in the front office group. Then, The Athletic's Michael Russo (32:50) shares his thoughts on the Minnesota Wild side of the deal, if there's any discourse on the return for Quinn, if the Wild now have higher expectations for this year, and if GM Bill Guerin still has enough assets to go big-game hunting on the trade market. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

All right, let's kick it up, but not your two. Real Kippin' Bourne show, a national edition of our program. We're live on Sportsnet, SportsSat 650 in Vancouver, which is a good time right now, because we got plenty to get into on the Canucks 960 in Calgary and streaming always on Sportsnet Plus, also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. This hour of Real Kippenborn, brought to you by,

365 Nick Kipprehill's Justin Bourne Sammy McKee Jason Bruff will show will be here momentarily and we'll get

completely into the Quinn Hughes blockbuster trade on Friday well after we were off the air yes evening trade I'm kind of glad

that it happened on a Friday why I just need a couple days just to relax and soak it all in and then start it up on a Monday. Well, our next guest, whenever he joins us,

did not relax. I saw them doing an emergency pods on the weekend. They were working on the weekend to do that. It's a big deal. So, yeah, but holy crap. That's as big a wow factor as I can remember seeing as a notification. Certainly in the five years, we've been together. I don't think there's been a bigger trade.

I don't know if there's been. Yeah. I mean, you know, Rasmus Sandin to the Caps for a first round pick was a pretty big ball for a third. Jason, of course, co-hosts, Halford and Brough on Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, Monday through Fridays. They do an excellent job. Did you get a chance to watch the new guys? Yeah, I did.

First off, what do you think? I really believe that under the circumstances, Jimmy Rutherford did really well. Did great. Yeah. And we set it all along, four or five pieces. all good quality a plus kind of, you know, prospects, I think, in their respective areas. So under the circumstances, there wasn't much out there.

I know the Rangers were in it. And they were talking about building something around the defenseman Schneider. New Jersey was in it. But New Jersey got cocky. Oh, really? Yeah. They felt like they were the front runner. He's going to come here in a year and a half.

Let's not blow our brains out. And they were willing to do something around Nemich. Yeah. But it didn't get any more attractive. And if you're Vancouver, like, Booiam over those guys, for sure. Yes. Can I? And just one more thing.

And New Jersey fans are going, wild right now. Not happy. Not happy. Also, all they've heard forever is he wants to be with his brothers and they don't understand why it didn't happen. Can I give my great friend Justin Boren some credit for Friday afternoon? I believe that Real Kippertr and Boren may have been on in Jim Rutherford's office on Friday afternoon because Justin said they got to do this right now. They got to turn the page. And it wasn't right now, but it was probably three to four hours from when you said they got to do this right now. So I'll give you credit on that. I think this is the best thing for Vancouver.

We've turned the page now, fresh start. You've got three players who are actively in the roster or in the lineup for you. So you get a chance to turn the page. What I like, too, is I like all the ages of the guys. So it's not like, you know, you heard people talk about, they, oh, they're trying to get heeshire out of Vancouver. What's easier, 28?

You know, I don't need to see 31-year-old heeshire or whatever. These guys all, you're going to get the best of the careers of the guys you got. You get a first with it, So you guys, yeah, these are all very nice things. I'm not saying they won the trade. These are all very nice. I know you guys aren't, but I don't know if it's, it's good to turn the page or whatever, but I think if you're a Vancouver fan.

Oh, yeah, I, you know, I get what you're saying. Like, you had one of the best players in the league still in his prime. Yes. And your organization got to a point where it wasn't good enough to keep him to consider staying. Yeah, they should be mad. They should be mad. But 26th. Like you said, yeah.

He's unbelievable. And, like, he was so good in this game for the... I watched a three-minute mixtape of his highlights. And, like, he's out of this world, so energized. It's a great job by Jim Rutherford to get something, but God. And he maxed Vancouver fan today. He maxed the value, and he can't wait to the summer. He needed to give Minnesota or anyone else two playoff runs before he needed a new contract.

And that's what's going to go on from here on end. You are not losing a player of that magnitude for nothing. And I think for future general managers, there's a lesson to be learned there when you're reading the tea leaves and you're not getting your player to resign. And that's basically what happened to Vancouver. And yet they turned it into four quality pieces. All right, Jason Brough, how are you, my friend?

I'm doing pretty well. How are you guys? Okay. So, it just seemed within the last week or two, Jason, in the Vancouver market, I think the fans were just kind of warming up to the idea that, oh, no, Quinn Hughes may not resign here. And then it went from that to having the Band-Aid ripped right off, and he's gone two weeks before Christmas. So how is it on this Monday morning the vibe in Vancouver knowing that Quinn Hughes is no longer a member? Yeah, it probably depends who you ask. I think there's a lot of people that are getting a little hopeful, believe it or not, just because they saw this thing coming.

It was certainly signaled in a number of ways by the reporting that's been done or watching Quinn Hughes play. there was a couple of games against there was one against San Jose and one against Colorado where you kind of quit on a play and you know his defenders would be like well he takes long shifts maybe he was tired and I think

you know in hindsight if the reporting is right by Elliot Freeman that the message came to the Canucks around American Thanksgiving that he wasn't going to resign then you know I think that his play on the ice was connected to that. So there are some people that are hopeful

because they like some of the young guys and maybe there's a rebuild coming. But there's also a real sense of loss, I would say. The Canucks just lost the best defensemen in franchise history and the type of defensemen they've been looking for their entire franchise. They're a bit like, they've been a bit like the Leafs, really, in the modern era in that they've been searching for that. Norris Trophy, winning defensemen, I guess Salman was at that level in the late 70s.

But, you know, came up against that Habs team in the late 70s and got swept by them, I think. And they had some pretty good defensemen. And ever since then, you know, Leif's fans have been looking for that number one guy and maybe talking themselves into some other guys. And that's how it was in Vancouver. And then you get this guy who is like, yeah, he's the number one. yeah he's the guy he even won a norris trophy and now he's gone so knowing that that was coming for you guys and what the expectation for a return was how did the actual return live up to expectation i think the return was good yeah i think it was really good um i think uh it was what was to be

expected um you know zeev booiam and by the way that's going to be a nightmare for rick dolly will if you have him on the show, Zeev, Zee, Booiam. You know, he looked really good, and he's a great skater. He's only 20. I think he just turned 20. Marco Rossi, I like him.

The Canucks have been interested in him before. He's not a 1C, but he's a pretty good player. Liam Ogren, I don't, he hasn't gotten off to a great start with Minnesota, but we'll see. He has some history playing with a Canucks prospect by the name of Jonathan Laker-Mackie,

so maybe they can rejuvenate him, a little bit. Maybe a fresh start will help for him. And then they got a first round pick. So they got two first round picks right now. I think theirs is going to be pretty good. I don't know about Minnesota's. And then maybe they get another first in a Kiefer-Shirwood trade or something. Yeah.

Just in terms of now, you know, the rest of the room, I think all the players are saying the right things now. But does it make other players reassess their position or is the commitment there to to maybe hold the Ford for another year or two before they can start really thinking about competing again.

Yeah, a couple of guys were asked about that. I know, Thatcher Demko committed, Brock Besser committed, Connor Garland committed. And I don't know if they took it as offensive being asked that question. It's like, Quinn's gone. Are you going to stay?

And, you know, they said, look, I committed to Vancouver. Quinn was my buddy, but I'm committed to this team. and I want to stay the Canucks. So now, the Canucks might choose to go a different way, but they're going to keep some veterans around. You know, you talk about the room, and that's probably where I'm the most curious because I don't know, I don't know who the leader is.

You know, there isn't an obvious captain choice right now. Right. Not even close. I don't know what they're going to do. I don't know if they're going to name one. But, and I think, I really, I'd like to know what's been going on in that room for the last year. I asked Patrick Alvin a rather pointed question after the Quinn Hughes trade.

I said, do you have a culture problem? And, you know, he responded, our team? I was like, uh-huh, your team. You know, the one with the one where you had two guys getting a fight, one of them had to be traded, the one where the head coach didn't want to stay, and the one where the captain has now indicated he doesn't want to stay. So, you know, I would like to know just what's going on there and what's the plan and who's your next, who is your leadership group? We've heard a lot about the leadership group over the last few years and it included J.T. Miller and it included Quinn Hughes and it included Elias Pedersen.

I think you can ask questions about all three of those guys in the leadership they provided. You know, it's, it's crazy just like where they're at in, you know, you talk about maybe they'll be a rebuild, but they want to get butts in the seat still and still. sort of seem competitive, but doesn't it almost feel like any attempt at staying competitive worsens your pick, frustrates your fans? Like there's almost no benefit to not moving on to a proper build here. Barney, welcome to the last decade of Canucks Sports Radio, just those conversations. And it's frustrating, but I think I've never seen the calls for a rebuild more intense than they are right now. But yeah, if they do go through a rebuild and there's some losing, then, you know, there might be some empty seats.

And as an owner, that's something they're going to consider. Under this ownership group, they have never gone into a season with low expectations. There's always been, you know, we want to make the playoffs. And they've made moves to try and get them into the playoffs. Most of the time it hasn't worked. And they've wasted a lot of cap space along the way and wasted a lot of money. and waste a lot of money along the way. But we'll see if this is different now.

We'll see. And I think that's what a lot of people are waiting to find out. You're watching and listening to Jason Brough, co-host of Halford and Brough on Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver. So hockey world pretty much since Jimmy Rutherford said it last season that we always linked Quinn Hughes to New Jersey. Okay. And it was, hey, he wants to be with.

his brothers. I understand that. It's family. It's the decision. And, you know, okay, wants to be because of the brothers. Nobody really had, you know, Minnesota or anywhere else in the equation here. So hear me out for a second, Jason. He ends up going to mini and within 24 hours says he's totally open to resigning there. And it's like, all right. Like, What just happened? What does Minnesota have that we didn't have in Vancouver? Like, will it, is there any clear indications from your end or what you're hearing on why he wouldn't resign or why he wanted to leave? Because all we've had up until this point is really the brothers.

The country. Well, yeah, his agent, Pat Brisson said, you know, he's quoted in an athletic article saying we wouldn't be in this position. the team being the Canucks was in a better place. I'm not convinced that Quinn was leaving regardless. I think if the Canucks were a competitive team and everything was going well. I mean, I don't know. I don't, you know,

he keeps a pretty tight circle, I think, but he's the captain of the Canucks. He just didn't believe in the team. He just didn't believe in the leadership, the team, something bothered them. They were losing a lot. And you know, I think he looked at

what was coming and what was there and he was very frustrated and he wanted out and you know you ask what does Minnesota have that Vancouver doesn't well a good hockey team fair enough it's in the US that probably doesn't hurt either it doesn't hurt I don't think that hurts either the New Jersey thing I don't know about you guys

but I've always found that and obviously the family thing is there but you know wouldn't Quinn just take Luke's role there. Like, how would Luke feel about that? Right. Yeah. Can you have two guys? Yeah, it'd be an on fit there. So then let's talk about what the

Canucks got back here. Bouillon gets a goal and an assist in the first like seven minutes. He's a Canuck. That's pretty cool. You got Ogren, Rossi. What are your thoughts on the individual players? I mean, at first glance, Booiam looks

pretty good to me. He's a great skater. Yeah. Seems very confident. It sounds so weird, but like Canucks fans were, hey, he's smiling. That's nice. I'm not even joking. I'm not even joking. You know, Quinn looked pretty down for a long time. And I'll be honestly, the team, yeah, they had that one good year and, you know, a couple of years ago.

But the team generally has looked, you know, upset, sad. And, you know, that, you know, the Canucks fans feel that. So I like that there's going to be an injection of youthful energy. And these guys are, you know, Booiam and Ogren are going to be really motivated to prove themselves. And I think Rossi is probably going to be motivated to prove that he can be a top six guy. Because I know that there were doubts about his abilities, particularly in the playoffs last year with the Wild. And, you know, the Wild were willing to let this guy go. So let's see what what he can.

do. The season, believe it or not, even like Quinn Hughes isn't there anymore, but the season to me got a little more interesting. And I want to see, I want to see what these young guys do. I want to see, you know, who's going to step up and be a leader. I really want to see what, what Elias Pedersen looks like, you know, because he's, you know, whether he likes it or not, he's kind of the face of the franchise right now. And I don't know how that's going to work out. could be good could be bad seems the face of the franchise falls a lot on jimmy rutherford as well so if if you were kind of split on whether or not jimmy rutherford and you know an extension of patrick alveen were the guys to to do this deal or not

does that return jason bring kind of newfound confidence in them um yeah i think he did did a good job on the return i mean look i i i think jim rutherford's a pretty good hockey executive he's he's he's done a lot of good he's won three stanley cups um you know i think the issue in vancouver is who's going to be the sidney crosbie oh and you know jim rotherford did a great job building out those penguins teams um but sid was already there when he got there and so was gino and you know carolina had some pretty good players too so you know who's going to be the Rod Brindamore here in Vancouver. That's what everyone's looking for right now

because it was Quinn Hughes. He was the superstar. And right now you're looking at that team and going, well, who's the superstar? Is it Pedersen? He's supposed to be, but hasn't played like that. And, you know, maybe it's going to be a guy they draft. Maybe it's Braden Coots, who we might see it, the world juniors. But, you know, you need those superstars. You're not going to win a cup without them.

There's a reason there's so much focus on Toronto and Austin Matthew. right now. If he's not going, the Leafs aren't doing anything. How's Adam foot handling a very challenging first season as a head coach? He's Mr. Positive. You know, he's, which is kind of rankled some of the fans, actually,

you know, like when they're losing these games and he has quotes like, oh, we were right there. You know, and just kind of like, well, but you lost. You lost a Buffalo at home. You know, that's not good. You know, I think I think he's been hard for him. He's, he's,

doesn't have much experience. You know, he doesn't have much experience as a head coach. He was on, he's lots of experience in hockey, tons of experience in hockey. And he was an assistant coach under Rick Tocket for a few years. So he knows Vancouver, but it's different when you got to go out and face the media as many times as he does. And, you know, I think some of the defensive breakdowns that the Canucks have been having don't reflect all that well on the coaching, although I will say that, you know,

when David Komp is your number one center, you might have some defensive breakdowns, you know. It's just, it's been, it's been a tough year. And there's no one thing where, oh, this is to blame 100% or this is to blame. It's just all kind of pieced out. And, and I think Canucks fans are hoping that maybe this trade is going to be the start of a fresh start or maybe a fresh start. But, you know, I'll believe it when I see it because sometimes the Canucks look like they're going down. a path and then they get impatient and then they they make a trade that everyone's like come on like what are you doing or they you know overspend in free agency they just get impatient and um that's

you know a lot of the a lot of the mistakes that have been made along the way they're all they're self-inflicted you know the oliver eckman narson trade was was a terrible trade they didn't have to make it they chased it and they ended up paying a pretty severe price and in fact they're still paying with Echman Larson's buyout. So just on the fans, last one for me here, Jason, in terms of good closure now on Quinn Hughes, but are the fans now going, okay, let's keep her going, what's next here?

And if you were a betting man here, like who are the names? Like, we were back to Sherwood. We're back to a few others that could find themselves in a new uniform. Yeah, I think Sherwood will be traded. And there will definitely be a market for him. I think they'd love to trade a Vander Cain. I don't know if there's a market for him. You know, Garland doesn't have trade protection until July 1st,

but they extended him. And I don't know if they're going to trade him. I know some people would like them too. Maybe they'll explore the market for it. But, you know, I think, I think it's kind of you get your pending on restrictive free agents taking care of, and that's, and that Sherwood and Kane and Teddy Gluger. if he gets back to being healthy. He's been hurt all year.

And then you just see how things going. They might take a breath for a bit. Jason, great stuff, man. Dissecting the blockbuster for us. Really appreciate your time. Thanks, guys. Thanks, buddy. Jason Brough.

Halford and Brough, Monday through Fridays, Sportsnet, 650 in Vancouver. So Sammy passed along a tweet just during the show there from Matthews fan. It's a projected lineup for the Canucks in Game 7 versus the Edenton Oilers two years ago? Is that two years ago? Yeah, I think two years. 20, 24. They went to game seven around two against the Oilers.

After being Nashville in the first round. Yeah. Pedersen, J.T. Miller, McKayev, top line. Dakota, Joshua, Elias Lindholm, Connor Garland. Hoagland, Suter, Lafferty. And then they had Blugher,

Degisepi on the fourth line there. And then they had Hughes and Heronix, Susie and Myers, Zedorov, and Cole. Not bad. They're a good team. Pretty. Like, there's like eight or nine guys off that team that were all the good guys, essentially.

They're all gone, except for Patterson, who's, like, not any good guy. He stopped being a good guy. Yeah, it's crazy. That's nuts, man. Mike Russo is going to join us after the break. Did you want to hear from, did you want to hear from Hughes, the stuff he said after? Yeah, I do. Okay.

Do we have sound? We could do that before we get the Russo to kind of lead into that, the wild side of this. But if you want to, I put it in the there, Jake, if you want to play it now, it's just the first part of it's about, Rutherford and then the second part of it is about him going to to Minnesota I have you know the ultimate respect for Jim Rutherford and Francesco Aqualini and the Acalini family I mean they were first class with everything that was going on

and obviously it was a tough situation but it felt like it was time and I think Jim did too but Jim was you know Jim and Pat Pepper saw him agent. He was, you know, obese. I'm very lucky to have him. But they were kind of talking a lot about places I might feel comfortable. And, you know, Jim was amazing with that. You want, you know, he cared about the person. He wanted me to go where he thought, you know, thinks I would be happy. And then obviously I got a lot of time for Billy for, you know, quote-unquote, you know, sacking up and making the deal like he did. And just, you know, how he valued

me and you know there are other teams that probably could have thrown in you know certain packages like that too but at the end of the day they didn't you know they didn't want to do that or they didn't want to trade two or three assets from their team like billy did and uh so i'll remember that and that means a lot to me that billy uh billy did that who's he talking to what do you he's talking he's talking to his boy fits he thank you 100% 100% I also like when a guy says quote unquote but year the guy you're quoting. No one else said sacking up.

That's your quote. At the start of that answer is when he said basically that he be... That's the one that has New Jersey fans wild right now. Here, can I extrapolate that? Yes. Curious is that would frustrate the other Hughes brothers. Like, how come you weren't the guy who did this? You know, like, what are we doing?

How many more years does Jack Hughes have on his contract? Three? Six. No, it's not that. He signed eight. Yeah, but that's a while ago now. Was it four years ago? I bet you it's three years after this one.

I'm going to agree with. Still a lot. It's actually four after this year. Thank you. So Quinn Hughes re-signs in the offseason with the Minnesota Wilde for four years. Until 2030.

So they both go to free agency and they go somewhere together. Totally. He's going 2030. I mean, did you see the locker room where they gave him like the player in the game? Yeah.

He's like, this is a sick team. Like immediately, that's what he says. Like, you guys are sick. You actually say that? Yes. Those are the exact words. When you play 26 minutes, 27 minutes? Minnesota is a cool place to play hockey.

People love you there. You're the only show in town. Oh, I know. Oh, no. It's legit. They're not the only show in town. They have the Vikings. They have the Kimberwolds and they also have the wins.

I should clarify, you're the show. There's one of four shows. You're the show and they love their hockey. Well, yeah, it's the state of hockey. State of hockey. They love it. They love it. And it's just a great vibe.

And when they have a good team right now, you could easily see him. A run. to a conference final this year, maybe a Stanley Cup. Who you beat in the show? I know. Listen, I know. I know.

And they're going to have to get through Dallas and Colorado. And the other thing that kind of, I want you guys to kind of watch down the road here is that, okay, there's a regular season. And then there's heat-seeking missiles in the playoffs. Yeah. And Quinn is not the biggest guy in the world. What happened against the Oilers?

They beat them up. Beat them up. right and can he can he help carry two series against Colorado and Dallas or Edmonton Ryan Hartman is hard to play against Marcus Felino hard to play against Jared Joel Erickens I know I know pain boldies physical what about Cogians in there but there's Spurgeon not the biggest Quinn not the biggest and I you take those guys out you run the crap out of them it'll change the makeup of that team. Like Caddry to the wild?

Yeah, they're probably going to keep doing stuff, you would think at this point, right? Everyone's talking about their center depth. I don't know. They'll be a mad fight for Caddardia. I also love... With Dallas, too. Dallas, like...

Because Dallas has all that money from... Oh, yeah. Tyler Sagan. Right. I also like, you know, for Bill Guerin, it's like, Minnesota's not a place. You need some star talent there, and their organization since its inception has been semi-like Columbus

where it's like they haven't had. Gaborik was like the best player they had there for a long time until Caprizov got there. Now you got two absolute stars. Yeah. And you'll have them for, call it five years minimum. Well, I mean, if he does not. Watching him yesterday, he's so good with the puck

and he makes good decisions and the control of a game. There's an argument. The control. of the game. Well, McCar is stronger, buddy. But Quinn does have the puck way more than McCar. He controls the actual, like, direction of the... I'm not saying, listen, I'm not making the argument.

You're going to take McCar over Quinn Hughes, are you not? Totally agree. Yeah, okay. We're all in agreement there. There is that argument. Yes, yeah. So, I mean... No, he's going to control half the game.

He's out there. Game time? Game time. It's game time. Presented by Bet 365. Visit the athlete of the odds and see why it's every ordinary. Bet 365, 19 plus Ontario only please play responsibly.

I think there's five games on tap tonight, including Florida in Tampa, the blood rivalry of the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Florida's starting to look like Florida for you guys. Florida is a dog in that game plus 105 going into Tampa to take on the lightning. I wish there was a way to bet the over. penalty minutes. I'm not sure that's allowed or you can do that on here. But yeah, that's always a fun matchup in those two team plays.

The only Canadian teams in action are playing each other, and that is Ottawa in Winnipeg to take on the Jets. Speaking of struggling, Ottawa, not having a very good time. Somehow behind the least in the standing, that's an accomplishment. They lost three in a row. Yeah, they have. They are plus 105 in the money line. Winnipeg minus 125.

Got hell about back way before anybody expected. Was it a week and a half, two weeks back? this game has to go to OT Like these Canadian teams need points Yeah you may get a three point effort out there Yeah just you know Ice it back and forth for three hours And then just go to overtime

And the late game Good one in Dallas Not that late Iniquiquot is kind of late for me But L.A. Kings visiting the stars As you'd imagine The LA Kings are underdogs in that one Oh

okay plus 110 on the money choking over there holy plus 110 for those LA Kings minus 130 for the Dallas starts that was game time presented by bet 365 visit the app for latest odds and see why it's ever ordinary at bet 365 must have 19 plus until only please play responsibly okay we're going to take a quick break here

Mike Russo will join us we'll get a couple comments out of him from a Minnesota wild perspective and then of course we'll dive into the big change in Buffalo or was it a big change. Yeah.

We'll discuss when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne. Hey, it's Matt Marquesie. And I'm Mike Futa. We're discussing the top stories of the day across the NHL and the hockey world. Weekdays at noon. It's the fan hockey show on Sportsnet 590, The Fan, and wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to the program. Real Kipper and Born show, National.

Our Nick Caprio, Justin Boren, Sammy McKee. Hello. I missed that whole conversation you guys were having. Do you want to know? Was it interesting? It was a verbal meme. Yeah, we were discussing the Buffalo Sabres and they're higher of Yarmal Kecklein over Kevin Adams.

And how it doesn't feel like the most enthralling move of all times. He's been there. To me, I know it's only been there like a year or something, but he's been there. If you have good ideas, give him to the other guy. Skinner for Jari. Does it feel like that? Yeah, totally.

I mean, exactly the joke. We didn't talk with Jari on Saturday. What'd you think? Fine. Looks like Justin Jari. Yeah. Kik likes to boot the puck into the slot a lot. Yeah, I had tough, right?

First game. New Bads, I guess. Canada, Leefs. I always had a pet peeve about a game being over and then giving up a late goal. I hate that. Okay. So if I was Edmonton, if I was Jari,

if I was Connor McDavid, okay, like, ended a, six two why are you giving up a freebie you know on the on the slot shot by a fourth liner yeah yeah that's frustrating for him because he played well and he didn't move well i didn't like the way jari looked on on uh the the the steve lawrence goal you know i mean maybe maybe he's just you know it's it's small it's a nothing burger i get that but still didn't like it uh just wait on russo did you what were your thoughts on them hiring uh hold on the the the the the

rest of that conversation with Sam was and I quote Sam, get a dork. Go get a dork. Find a dork. No, a dork's not getting it done, guys. Well, they need to find somebody that's not the guy that's... No, you're not getting a dork. You need credible. Somebody credible. Somebody to come in and take charge a little bit.

Just hire Brandon Shanahan in this equivalent of Kyle Dubas. Even if you did, at least Brendan... Listen, you can say Brendan's a complete failure for not bringing in a Stanley Cup. But Brendan could go into Buffalo and say 10 consecutive

playoff rounds. What have you guys done the last 14 years? Can I read you the tweet? I think the least have the third longest playoff streak. Yeah. In professional sports right now. Yeah. At least the fans. If you went to the Buffalo

Sabre fans right now and just said, okay, we're not going to win to Stanley Cup. but we're going to make the playoffs. They'd be doing backflips. All right. We'll finish this conversation. Mike Russo, who covers the Minnesota Wild for the athletic,

is kind enough to join us and give us a little bit of a feel of the Quinn Hughes, I don't know, era starting in Minnesota. And Michael, first of all, your thoughts on how fast this went and whether or not Craig Leopold, the owner of the Minnesota Wild is now giving Edward Rogers a run for his money when it comes. comes to stepping up.

Yeah, no doubt. I mean, you know, it came together quick. There's no doubt about that. You know, I think the wild got into the fray about a week ago. And they made it crystal clear and probably because Bill Garan knows Jim Rutherford so well that he knew. And this is Bill's philosophy with everything. You know, with contract negotiations, he goes to the number. You know, he doesn't want to waste time.

And in trades, he offers his best package right off the hop. And he certainly did that here. And I don't see any of the other contenders that would have been able to, you know, overtake this type of trade where you give the equivalent of four first-round picks with three really, really good players. I mean, Zee, William has a chance to be a star. And obviously, Marco Rossi has been a consistent player so far in the first couple of years in his career, and I think is only on the rise.

But when you can get Quinn Hughes, it's a game changer. And when you're in this division and you're a franchise that can't seem to get over that hump, this puts them on par with not on par, but it starts to elevate them to a status of contender status when you're going to, you know, have to play Colorado or Dallas in the first round of the playoffs. So I really think that we saw the energy that it did in the building. This team, believe it or not, for the first time in my history covering the team, have had some trouble putting butts in the seats.

And I think this moves the needle both on the ice and definitely off of it. Michael, this is unrelated to the trade. I should have to say, I know you're in Minnesota and it looks cold behind you. All I can see is blue through your blinds and it's this Minnesota blue. It just looks cold behind you. Yeah. Well, I just spent the last Justin, I spent the last week in Edmonton.

Oh, and I brought the weather right. Yeah, I brought the weather here. It was minus 22 Fahrenheit up there. And on one of the days I was there, it was crazy. So I saw a couple Oilers games. I was there for the rivalry series, U.S. and Canada. And, man, it was, it was frosty. It's winter.

It's winter already. I did want to ask, everyone loves getting Quinn Hughes. You know, like, who wouldn't? And I'm wondering, are there any doubters? Are there anyone in Minnesota, any fans, anyone saying, boy, we gave up a lot to get this guy? Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there are. You know, I will say, you know,

somebody else asked me that I think it was on a show in Vancouver the other day, and they asked me the same question. And I really wasn't even looking at Twitter the night that the trade happened because I was so busy working. So I really haven't gotten a pulse. But at the arena yesterday, that's all that matters, right? If you're a stakeholder and if the Minnesota Wild, who's coming out to the game,

wearing jerseys and and the fans were jacked up. The players are clearly jacked up. I'm sure there are people that said they gave up a lot and especially if he somehow can't, you know, if they somehow can't keep him here past a year and a half from now. But look, I think that the wild had always doubted that Marco Rossi was going to be that true top six center for this team. I personally think that he has that ability. But I think in the playoffs, when it went to go and beat those teams that I mentioned,

I think that they sort of doubted that. And Zeeb William is going to be a star. But the while they're in this win-now mode, their window is now, and I don't think Bill Guerrán had the patience to just wait for Zee William to maybe become Quinn Hughes. I think he has the ability. But to me, you know, I was shocked at the price absolutely at first when I first heard about it. But the reality is that you're getting a 26-year-old Norris trophy defenseman in his prime. And, you know, I just got off the phone with Brock Besser about,

two minutes ago before we're getting on here. And Brock was telling me, just like you don't know until you're on the ice with this guy, how much of a game that he can dominate from the back end. He's a human breakout. He gets the puck up the ice. And those are areas where this team has really struggled this season. We're talking Quinn Hughes with Mike Russo,

who covers the Minnesota Wild for the athletic. Mike, where in your mind were the Minnesota Wilde before the trade? and where are they now compared to the likes of Dallas stars in Colorado? You know, I'm not going to go and say that they have elevated themselves to that. I mean, they don't have Nathan McKinnon and Kail McCar. You know, I do think it gets them closer to Dallas, which is the team they're likely to play in the first round, and it's a team that they've beaten that they've lost to a couple times

in their run of first round exits here since 2015. So I think it gets them there. I think Quinn, you know, I'm going to have to see them more and more in this lineup. up. But when they get healthy, I think this is as deep a team as I've covered here. There's certainly a fun team to watch. Obviously, I still think that they are a center away. You know, this team doesn't have a lot of high-end center depth. And then you give up Marco Rossi.

You know, that's a huge hole that you're going to have to fill here. But I think where they're hoping that they can compensate, at least in the shortcoming, is just the offense that Quinn Hughes creates just by one being on the number one power play. But two, at even strength, getting the puck in the hands of the likes of Matt Boldie and Carol Caprice off. So, you know, he looked awesome yesterday. Brock Faber, who is his partner, was as good as game as I've seen him play this year. And he's been on a run of great games for a while. So I think it absolutely puts them in a position now where they could go out, at least in their mind feel when they're going into a playoff series, whether it's Colorado, whether it's

Vegas, whether it's Dallas, that they have a chance to win. And I think that's the half the battle with this team because it's it's not just the media and the fans that talk about the first round exit the players openly do you know the core of this team had been around for a vast majority of these these years where they just can't get over the hump and now all of a sudden I think that Quinn just gives them that extra swagger going into a playoff series and and we all know bill garren it doesn't mean that he is done you know I think he realizes that there's still probably one deficiency up front that he's going to have to at some point address the question is now after giving up so many assets

the last couple of years in the Eurocheck deal and now this deal, if he's going to have those assets to go and get into a battle for some other top players. And would those other top players include the name, Nazim Khadri? I don't know about Nazim. I don't know if the age makes a lot

of sense. You know, I think there might be one veteran center out there that he would probably give up a lot for, but I don't even want to start those. Oh, stardom! Startum! You know, I mean, I mean, I obviously, if Sid became available, I think, you know, you know, I don't mind that one. Yeah, you know, I mean, but I still think he wants to go big game hunting.

I'm sure he's going to be checking you. And, you know, like the second that Matthew Darsh got into Long Island, I'm guarantee you, Bill Garron was on the phone with him asking about guys like Beau Horv had at Matthew Barzell. And I'm sure that, you know, Bill's going to now do that with Yarmal Kekalainen about some of those guys. You know, I don't think that Yarmai was going to be in a hurry to really change the course. that team. But, you know, the Wild, it's, it's no denying that the Wilde have tried to make a number of trades with the Buffalo Sabres for Jack Eichael for J.J. Paterka. And, you know, they're going to be eyeballing Tage Thompson if there ever comes a point that he wants out of there. But, but again, you know, the Wild suddenly they're going to have a $17 million player in

Carl Caprisoff. If they're going to keep Quinn Hughes, he's going to be in that middle of double-digit salaries. So, you know, there's only so many superstars you could have and be able to feel the roster, you know, but, but I, I can guarantee you that Bill is going to be checking on other big names. Does he, does, I'm not well versed on more assets in, in the organization, but he paid a hefty price to the Vancouver Canucks. What's, what's left to give for, for big game hunting still? Yeah, I know you're exactly right, Nick.

I mean, they've, they've, they've, a hundred percent given up probably their four best assets in this trade, if you're not including Jeper Valsat. But, I mean, Boyam, it was their number one asset. Marco Rossi, to me, especially of the guys that had no, no trade protection, he was as good as a God. And Liam Ogren's a first-round pick, and then they gave up for first. So there's not a lot left. I mean, they still have a lot of prospects in the organization, you know, but they're not on that level. So the question is, would they have a package that would be able to get them or they're just going to, at some point, this season, come other, you know, forwards that can help.

They are still absolutely ravaged by injury. they lost David Eurecheck last night. They lost Marcos Joe Hansen. They're playing without Zuccarello. They're playing without Jake Middleton, Jones Burdine, Marcus Flino. I mean, it's just crazy that this team is 16, 3, and 2, and it's last 21, and they've been besieged by injury.

So I also think that, you know, they're an injury or two away from having to do something anyway to, you know, potentially add to this team. Just one more for me, and I'll let you go, Mike, just in terms of circling back to Quinn Hughes. he's already talking about the thought of signing a long-term deal. Is it too early for people to speculate like yourself on whether or not that's legit or lip service

or does he ultimately still want to be with his brothers somewhere? What did you make of his comments of Minnesota sacking up? Yeah, I mean, I talked to Paperson for a while the other day and he absolutely said that he's open-minded to being here and Quinn echoed that yesterday. And, you know, again, I've talked to a lot. We're working on a big profile him on him for this week. And I've talked to a number of people that are close with him.

And everybody just says one thing. He wants to win. There's no, there's no sit there, no plan to sit there. I want to go play with Jack and Luke. I want to go live in Michigan, things like that. I think what he wants to do is win. I think he wants to be in a hockey market and a great experience. And we saw what the fans' reception was.

And the other thing with him is that he is an absolute hockey nut. He knows the value of what Bill Guerin gave up. in this trade, and he talked about it last night, that he will always remember that. And I think that he just knows. I think he was shocked at the price that the wild were willing to pay because of how much respect that they have for him.

And so I genuinely don't think that was lip service yesterday. Now, does that mean he's gonna sign an eight year extension on July 1? Absolutely not. I mean, he's 26 years old. Like if I were him, I would actually say, I'll sign for three years. I'll give you three, which is really four. And then it also aligns him maybe with Jack.

to become a free agent. And it allows him at 29 years old to get a huge, huge contract. But what you're saying in there is kind of like Karel Kaprisov, the wild know at the beginning of this nine years, eight-year window here, that they've got to be, because he's 29 years old, they've got to be aggressive, and the window is now to try to win. And if you're Quinn Hughes and say, I want a three or four-year deal, you're saying to Bill Guerin, all right, here's your window.

Let's go win a cup. And so it doesn't technically, to me, have to be eight years. I think actually a short-term type of contract might be the sweet spot if you're going to want to keep them here. Great stuff, Mike. Really appreciate the Minnesota side of things. Best of luck moving forward. Thanks for joining us.

Yep, see you, Keper. Thanks, Rousseau. Mike Rousseau. Yeah, it does a nice job there. And he made some excellent points that. What's he supposed to say, though? No. Quinn?

Yeah, I'm not committing, like, I'm not going to talk about my future at this time. I guess that's what you would probably say. Well, I mean, look at how upset Rantanin was to go to Carolina. You didn't hear anything. I mean, that's a fair point. Okay, that's like when you, he had no choice.

He had no protection. Quinn Hughes had zero protection. So he could have been traded anywhere. And if you don't like the cold and you want it to be East Coast, you know, you could fake it. But I don't get the sense he was faking everything coming out of his mouth yesterday.

Well, for a guy who seems to be consistently having an existential existential crisis in every interview in Vancouver. He was like on the verge of a smile everything he said yesterday. He seemed very happy to be there. Yeah, I just think it's easy to be horned up after your first game that you've played there and you beat the crap of the Bruins and you score a goal

and the crowd's going crazy and it's your first thing like, I'd stay here forever. It's like me going on vacation to like, I'm like in Mexico City. I should live in Mexico. Oh my God, I love it here. He quietly could have been disappointed too. And he didn't come across disappointed. About the not New Jersey factor.

About, yeah, going to Minnesota. No, totally. I'm not saying he's being insincere. I just think there's a little bit of a honeymoon factor where you're so excited about your game and just being in a new place that you may say some things a little bit. Like, I'm sure they said that he said Brissan's age. I'm sure Brissan didn't love his like, oh, I'm open to stay in here.

This is the guy who gets married on the Bachelor Party in Vegas. It's like, I fell in love last night. Yeah, just like everybody else did it, Desperiment Rhino. We only have a few minutes, so let's put a bow to this Buffalo Sabres story. Can I read you the tweet about the Sabres? Yeah.

Okay, since Terry Pegula bought the Sabres in February of 2011, they have had five GMs, eight head coaches, including two Lindy Rough tenures, 28 goalies, seven captains, two first overall picks and zero playoff appearances. And a partridge in a pear tree. They've had seven captains. Oh, my God.

So if you're looking for stability. Zero playoff. Seven captains is crazy. How many? Like 28 goals. I mean 28. Yeah, you can see that, can't you? But no, but I think a lot of teams would have that many goalies.

Yeah, I think if you have like a starter, who's your starter for like five years. That's not the point. No organization needed a statement hiring. And I don't know who that is. and you know whether it's Brendan Chanahan or anyone else out there but you go and hire Yarmo out of

Columbus who oh by the way I don't know one playoff no they want they went oh they won playoffs series one playoff appearances one 12 season playoff round the glory year in 12 seasons yeah parts of 12 seasons

parts of 12 seasons when they beat when they swept the right the Tampa Bay Lightning had 126 so that the record right Terry Pagal put out a press release today and said after an extensive search process

how extensive walked down the hall hold on hold on no one under there no one under there no one under there walked down the hallway nowhere okay walked down the hallway at Yarmo that's well what kills me now is like now you can't go hire a president or this Shanahan thing that we've kind of talked about them doing where now you just can't just hire GM and then hire the

president who's typically going to want their own guy in. So now you've kind of painted yourself in a corner. Yes, for, I don't know, 12 more years, 14 more years. I don't know. I don't know either. But it's just crazy that they have this streak going on. I think when Sam said, go get a dork, I think the idea of what you're saying is bringing someone with a new philosophy, a fresh start, a fresh set of eyes, a fresh,

we're not doing it this way anymore. There's all these AGMs across the league that are, you know, the up and it's like just go find somebody that's got a different. And again, not a give out Kekalayan and who people like. Sure. But he's been a part of their last year thing there and it's not like. I just don't know how Buffalo Sabre fans and whoever are left are going to kind of be drawn to Yarmo.

And no disrespect, but like. Good dude and he's had relative success in the tough place. These are guys smashing into chairs. and tables at Bill's games, you know? Like, it's a different world in Buffalo there with their sports fan. They're a hardcore, hardcore. If you built a fun team in Buffalo,

they would love it. I don't know. Does Terry still, like, show the same love to, no. The bills get from him? Let's go, Buffalo. How about that quarterback of theirs yesterday? I don't care about him.

Phil Rivers, boys. Bill Rivers almost for the game. He's amazing. But come on. Forget Josh. Allen every week. Stud. Stud.

That's a leader. That's a guy who can look you guys in the eye. Our thanks to Mike Russo who joined us and Jason Brough. All right, five games on tap. Pick yours. And we're back here tomorrow. Do it all over again.