Are the Vancouver Canucks targeting Hischier in a Hughes trade?
Say it ain’t so.
We’ve heard that the Vancouver Canucks want to stay competitive, despite the fact that they’re last in the NHL and are on the precipice of potentially trading the best player in franchise history.
Even though most Canucks fans are on board with a rebuild, a recent article from ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski suggests that this management team still wants players who can help them win now.
“I think the Canucks’ actual target on the Devils is 26-year-old captain Nico Hischier,” Wyshynski wrote. But it’s hard to imagine New Jersey gutting its depth like that considering how much time No. 1 center Jack Hughes has missed on an annual basis.”
Hischier was drafted first overall by the New Jersey Devils in the same draft that saw the Canucks Elias Pettersson at fifth overall. The Swiss centre turns 27 on Jan. 4.
He would certainly help the Canucks in the short term, but what does that actually look like? Does Hischier help the Canucks climb from 32nd up to 22nd in the NHL standings? Even that rosy proposition seems unlikely after removing Hughes from the Canucks’ lineup.
In terms of finding young players who could help, Hischier doesn’t really fit the bill, considering he basically falls in line with the age of an average NHL player.
And even if the Canucks were shockingly able to snag a player of Hischier’s calibre, they would be hampering their ability to build for the future.
If Hughes does get traded, it will go down as one of the most impactful trades in Canucks history, for better or for worse. The Canucks need to get it right.
While the idea of targeting Hischier is flawed, actually acquiring him is probably a moot point, as Wyshynski wrote.
“If the Devils were to trade Hischier, they’d spend the rest of Quinn Hughes’ time in New Jersey looking for a player like Nico Hischier,” wrote Wyshynski.
Hischier has been a safety blanket for the Devils, as Jack Hughes has missed significant time over the past three seasons. He missed 20 games in each of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns, and he’s in the midst of an eight-week absence after suffering a freak injury at a restaurant.
The Devils have gone 5-8-0 in Hughes’ absence, and their .385 points percentage in that stretch ranks 29th overall in the NHL.