I vaguely remember what you’re talking about but what I took it to mean was that the two players were rated closely. I believe the canucks separate forwards and defenseman and work off of at least two ranking lists. So if they were really high on hayton, at max, they would have had him ranked #2 on the forwards list (I don’t think anyone would dispute svechnikov was the best forward). I believe it’s safe to assume that Quinn was also ranked 2 on the defenseman list. Given that team need gives the edge to drafting a defenseman and the fact that top pair defensemen are harder to acquire, I don’t see how the canucks would have taken hayton over Hughes if they were both available.
I do believe they would have taken hayton over zadina if it played out that way, however.