‘He’s my brother. What’s he supposed to say?’ Quinn Hughes on Jack’s comments about playing together

Sep 10, 2025, 13:03 EDT

Credit: Mar 15, 2022; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) shares laugh with his brother New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes (86) in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

LAS VEGAS – Quinn Hughes entered the conference room during the NHL Player Media Tour and ripped the Band-Aid off.

Two days earlier, Quinn’s brother, New Jersey Devils superstar Jack Hughes, spoke about his desire to play with Quinn in the NHL someday. Jack didn’t disguise his intentions at all.

“This is the headline question, you know?” Jack told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. “Honestly, I’m not afraid to say it: eventually I’d love to play with him, and whether that’s in New Jersey, or at what time that takes, at some point I want to play with Quinn.”

Quinn knew what his brother Jack had told us, knew the comments would blow up in the Vancouver Canucks media market and knew we’d ask him about it Wednesday morning. It was the first question he tackled.

“I mean, he’s my brother. What’s he supposed to say, first of all? ‘I don’t want to play with him?’ ” Quinn Hughes told the Canadian Press’ Josh Clipperton. “We have contracts and whatnot. He’s on a different team. Would it be fun to play with [Jack and brother Luke Hughes] at some point? Of course. I think if you guys have brothers, you guys would say the same thing. But we do have contracts. I’m excited to be in Vancouver, and I feel like last year was a little bit of a failure. So I feel like I got things to do there. And I know Jack, he loves Jersey, and he’s got stuff to do also.”

Even though Jack stirred the pot, Quinn took no offense. There was no “Bro, what are you doing?” text fired off.

“No, I don’t care at all,” Quinn told Daily Faceoff. “I think that’s just him being authentic, and if a fan base can’t understand why he would say that, that makes no sense to me.”

Only in a hockey hotbed market like Vancouver would Hughes’ future already be such a talking point when he has two full seasons remaining on his deal. But as one of the league’s most stoic captains, he hasn’t let the speculation rattle him.

“Obviously Jack wasn’t the first one to bring it up, in fairness to him,” Quinn Hughes said. “I just think I’ve been fortunate to play in Vancouver because of the fans and what a special place it is and how well you’re taken care of because they love their hockey so much and care about their hockey. It’s normal in a Canadian market, and I feel like especially with how much noise there was last year, people want to know what direction the team’s going in, is there a direction and whatnot, etc., etc. So I can understand why it’s being brought up. I think if we had a terrific season last year and we were Cup contenders, I don’t think I would be the noise right now.”

Noise. A perfect word to describe the state of the Canucks. Few if any franchises have produced more noise in the past couple seasons, and 2024-25 was no exception, with the rift between forwards Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller stealing the headlines and culminating in Miller’s trade to the New York Rangers. Hughes isn’t a fire-breather type of captain, screaming in the room to rally his teammates, but he understood that he had to be the Canucks’ port in a storm with so much drama surrounding them, even if that was simply through maintaining his elite standard of play patrolling Vancouver’s blueline.

“Yeah, it’s tough – I was proud of myself just because I tried to help out those guys and also, there was a lot of nonsense on the side, but my game never dipped,” he said. “I always felt like I was there for my team. If anything, my game got better just because I knew we needed wins. The main thing I could control is my game. “

Hughes added that he knew the situation was a distraction last year – but that he’s optimistic the team has turned the page. It helps that the Canucks retained two of their longtime stalwarts, sniping right winger Brock Boeser and goaltender Thatcher Demko, in 2025 free agency. They’ve pivoted at head coach from Rick Tocchet to Adam Foote, under whom Hughes feels he’s played the best hockey of his career.

Does that mean a stabler version of the Canucks can look more the 109-point Pacific Division champion of 2023-24 than the team that missed the playoffs last season? Maybe, though Hughes stops short of naming specific targets for the team.

“I don’t have any expectations – my expectation for us is to have a really good camp and be focused and then be ready for Game 1, as ready as we can be,” he said.

If his teammates heed that advice and the Canucks recapture their Stanley Cup contender status, it will go a long way toward quieting that noise around Quinn’s future.

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