Quinn Hughes

Origins and early life

Quintin Jerome Hughes was born in Orlando, Florida, on 14 October 1999, while his father Jim was an assistant coach with the city's professional hockey team, and in 2006 the family settled in Toronto, where he played his minor hockey with the Toronto Marlboros. His parents are both hockey people: his mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, who was named an All-Star of the 1992 women's world championship with the United States, is Jewish, and his father, Jim, is Catholic.

Work and career

After the national development programme he played two seasons at the University of Michigan, and the Vancouver Canucks chose him seventh overall in the 2018 NHL draft. In his first full season, 2019–20, he led all rookies in the league in points and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, and in September 2023 he became the fifteenth captain in the history of the Canucks and the youngest captain then in the NHL. In 2024 he won the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman in the NHL, the first Canucks player ever to receive it, after a 92-point season, and he became the highest-scoring defenseman in the club's history.

On 12 December 2025 Vancouver traded him to the Minnesota Wild for three young players and a first-round draft pick. At the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in February 2026 he scored in overtime to beat Sweden 2–1 in the quarter-final, and in the final against Canada he set up the opening goal before his brother Jack won it in overtime. He was voted the best defenseman of the tournament, and the United States came home with its first Olympic gold medal in men's hockey since 1980.