Should The Canucks Send Quinn Hughes' Number To The Rafters Or The Ring Of Honour One Day?

After eight seasons and too many highlight reels to count with the Vancouver Canucks, the franchise has traded its star defenseman and captain, Quinn Hughes, to the Minnesota Wild. In return, Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium, and a 2026 first-rounder walk through the doors of Rogers Arena while Hughes heads to the Central division. 

Hughes’s departure raises many questions, and among them, an emotional yet defiant one must be asked: Should Vancouver retire Hughes’s number? Should he be enshrined in the Ring of Honour? My answer is simple: no. 

With that said, there is no denying the impact and respect he's earned while in Vancouver. He put up real, franchise-record numbers for a defenseman, won the Norris Trophy, captained the team, and was one of the most fun players to watch in a mediocre era of Canucks hockey.  

However, retiring a number holds a sanctity that Hughes has yet to earn. Retiring a number is for players who defined an era, helped bring a Cup to the city, or changed the franchise’s trajectory in a way nothing else could. Hughes was great, but great isn’t the same as transcendent. 

In a city that still lives and breathes the Sedin twins, Trevor Linden, and Pavel Bure, legends who mean something beyond the box scores, Hughes’s legacy in comparison feels incomplete. He didn’t lift a Cup here, nor did he make it deep into the playoffs. His best hockey was visible, but in a vacuum: high points, but no banners to hang, the kind of thing that lingers. 

The Ring of Honour? Same ordeal. That should be saved for those whose contributions were integral to the franchise's identity, moments that fans will refer to years from now as “turning points” or “defining eras.” Hughes was a cornerstone, but he wasn’t that cornerstone. Not with a trade like this, and especially not when the discussion is framed around nostalgia more than substance. 

Let’s stop beating around the bush and address the elephant in the room: he got traded. Yes, trades happen in professional sports, and elite players are moved constantly. However, getting traded isn’t how legends are honoured; it’s how businesses are run. The Canucks didn’t trade Hughes because they had to; they traded him because it made sense timing-wise with a pending contract and a rebuild on the horizon. 

So, should his number go up in the rafters? Should he be in the Ring of Honour display? I respect what Hughes did here, and I won’t pretend it wasn’t special at times. But “special” and “one of the greats” are two very different things, and only one of those gets a retired number. Not because Hughes wasn’t great, or that he wasn’t beloved, and most certainly not because he didn’t deserve better than being traded. But because those honours should come with history and a championship context. Unfortunately, one player’s brilliance in a tough era doesn’t quite cross that threshold. 

Time will tell what Hughes becomes in Minnesota. Perhaps he will win a Cup there, or maybe he will circle back and do something legendary in Vancouver. No one can predict the future, but one thing’s for certain. As of today, the retired numbers and Rings of Honour should be saved for those whose impact changed the franchise forever, not just temporarily. 

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