After reflecting on his departure from the Vancouver Canucks earlier this season, Quinn Hughes cleared the air about a narrative that suggested he'd stopped caring about about the club.
"I'd see stuff like, 'He doesn't care anymore,'" the Minnesota Wild defenseman told The Athletic's Thomas Drance. "But go watch my last game against Buffalo and you tell me that I didn't care. If you want to blame me for over-trying, for overdoing it, then honestly, I'm good with it.
"A couple of years ago, that sort of stuff would've bothered me, but it doesn't now. I'm the one that looks at myself in the mirror, and I'm good with everything I've done. I'm at peace with everything."
Hughes, who was dealt to Minnesota in December, will play against the Canucks for the first time Thursday. His final season-plus in Vancouver was embroiled with drama, but he insists that it never impacted his commitment to the team.
"I know I gave everything I had in Vancouver," Hughes said. "Go look at the years prior, too, when there was all sorts of nonsense going on, and I know I was always doing everything I could to make sure my game was in a good place and elevating it for the team. I tried to do that again this year. I had a great summer, and it just didn't happen."
The Canucks' 2024-25 season was derailed by a feud between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson that resulted in the former being traded to the New York Rangers. Vancouver missed the playoffs one year after winning the Pacific Division and now sits in last place in the NHL.
Hughes' contract status was a significant story in Vancouver as the current season began, as he's eligible for an extension this summer. The Canucks moved him to the Wild after an 11-17-3 start.
Hughes, who's notched 49 points in 42 games since the trade, believes playing on a contender again has helped his game.
"It's easier for me here," he said. "The way I'd explain it is that 30 minutes in Vancouver earlier this year is a lot harder than 30 minutes here right now in Minnesota. Like, (in Vancouver) I felt (that) to create something, I had to break it out, I had to do the zone entry. Reflecting on it, I was probably just overtaxed and overworking."
