December 27th, 2024
JC Clemas
Quinn Hughes should win the Norris Trophy. I doubt I’ll get a lot of pushback on that from anyone reading this. If you look past the fact that Cale Makar has more points, you realize that he’s also played more games, plays with two top 3 point scorers in the league this season, and Quinn’s defensive game is more sound. I’m not here to argue that Quinn Hughes deserves the Norris Trophy— it would be a boring, simple argument to make. I’m here to argue that Quinn Hughes should be a Hart Trophy favourite at this point in the season.
Other Canucks Not Producing
It’s no secret these days that some of the Canucks top players are unable to find their game at this point in the season. JT Miller’s leave of absence lasted 10 games, and in the 24 games he has played, he’s only managed 6 goals. Adding 15 assists to that total puts him on pace to get 63 points this season (taking into account the games he missed). That is a stark contrast from the 103 points Miller put up last season. The same story goes for Elias Pettersson, who seemed to be bringing his season back in Miller’s absence with 15 points in those 10 games. Upon Miller’s return, he put up 0 points in 6 games, before a nice multi-goal effort against San Jose. Pettersson has played every game this season, and remains on pace for 68 points. That is not enough from a guy who has one of the biggest contracts in the league. Not to mention the obvious stories surrounding these two stars, which they vehemently deny. No matter what’s going on behind the scenes, it is clear that our two 100-point players are currently not living up to the standards their former selves set. Brock Boeser’s production is staying relatively the same as we would expect from him, with 21 points in 26 games, but he also does not look quite as engaged in a 200-foot game as I came to expect from him last year.
Beyond our all-stars on forward, there is a pool of players who are having very interesting seasons. Conor Garland is putting a career year together, Jake DeBrusk has scored a team-leading 15 goals, and Kiefer Sherwood is providing incredible contributions in every aspect of the game. While these contributions have helped the Canucks remain in a playoff position even while struggling, these players play more of a “supporting cast” role than anything else. They’ve all been the main reason for a couple of Canucks wins this season, but none of them are quite at the level where they can give the Canucks a chance to win every single game. The rest of the offense has had its struggles. Teddy Blueger seems to have taken a step back from an underrated 2023-24 campaign. Danton Heinen has been a low-impact player since getting off to a relatively productive start to the season. Pius Suter hasn’t scored a goal in 9 games. Dakota Joshua is trying to re-find his game. To credit the offense, they are actually arguably the best defensive forward group in the entire league. But that doesn’t matter much when you’re consistently having full 20-minute periods where you manage 3 shots. The Canucks currently are not having enough guys step up, especially in the top end of the lineup. And yet, they remain in a playoff spot.
Struggling Defence
Filip Hronek’s injury has been more costly than I expected it to be. I thought it was looking fine after the first couple of games when Tyler Myers was able to string together some good performances in the top pairing role he’d been thrust into. That didn’t last long. Carson Soucy was also a player who I thought had been stepping up. Analytically, he’s been one of the worst defensemen in the entire NHL this season, but he had been playing some good hockey in December. That also seems like a temporary luxury, as Soucy’s lack of speed and poor decision-making are making a comeback in recent games.
Saturday night’s game against Ottawa showed exactly how terrible the defensive depth of the Canucks is. Time and time again, they failed to clear the zone. This is due to the fact that none of them know how to move the puck. Noah Juulsen took a silly offensive zone penalty late in the game, and if that wasn’t frustrating enough, Derek Forbort had three straight clearing attempts easily blocked at the line by Chabot. It frustrates me to see people defending some members of the defense just because they have enough heart to block shots and play physically. That is not all there is to playing hockey. If the second or third pairing of the Canucks was on the ice, the team had no chance of producing anything offensively. The only goal was surviving until the top pairing could pop back out again. Hronek’s injury has badly wounded this team. The defense is petrifying, and not for other teams.
Quinn’s Stats
Enter the reason we are still afloat this season: Quintin Hughes. The 25-year-old defenseman is coming off a season where he won his first career Norris Trophy, and is somehow playing BETTER than he did last season. So far, he has put up 42 points in 34 games, and is on pace for 101 points this season. His 42 points are 14 above second place on the team, which is the third-largest gap in the league for a team’s leading point scorer (Kirill Kaprizov is 20 points above Matt Boldy, and Jack Eichel is 15 points above Ivan Barbashev). Even beyond the points, Quinn’s offensive analytics are very clear of the rest of his team. This seems like a good time to remind everyone that he is a defenseman, unbelievably outplaying every single forward on this team in the offensive end. The fact that his production hasn’t taken the same step back with the rest of the team is just a testament to how he is in a league of his own. In the defensive zone, no other Canucks can compare to him either. Sure, he isn’t the most physical player. But he’s smart with his stick, can skate the puck out of trouble, and isn’t scared to throw a hit or block a shot if he absolutely needs to. In terms of expected goals for, Quinn Hughes has been able to uplift every defenseman on the Canucks to numbers far beyond what they’ve been able to achieve without him (besides Desharnais, who works far better with Brannstrom for some reason. Desharnais is a weird player).
The game against Ottawa really showed why Quinn Hughes needs to be in the Hart conversation. The Canucks were completely out of it in the 1st period. Quinn woke them up late in the period, with a goal and a primary assist that helped to tie the game. He added another primary assist in the 2nd. The Canucks were not producing anything unless Quinn was on the ice, which has been the story of many games this season. No other Canucks defenseman has been providing much of anything in Hronek’s absence. Quinn, as the team’s captain, has shown exactly why he was given the C on his sweater: leading by example. None of the issues impacting the rest of the team seem to have infected Quinn. He keeps the puck away from the opposition at all costs, skates circles around them, can find an open teammate through a crowd of players and is the only player on the entire team who isn’t afraid to shoot the puck on net. He’s even started blocking more shots recently, including one against Vegas that left him limping temporarily. Quinn is laying everything on the line for the team this season, and it is very evident by absolutely every single possible measuring tool. Basic stats, advanced stats, the eye test, you name it: everything shows Quinn Hughes being one of the best players in the league this year, and putting the Canucks on his back to be where they are right now.
Other Hart Favourites
Currently atop the Hart race right now would be Kirill Kaprizov, Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, and Leon Draisaitl. All of these players are having marvellous seasons. With that being said, it’s time to pick apart arguments of them being MVP. First, for Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl, the clear argument against them winning the Hart this season is the fact that they play with some of the best players in the league. MacKinnon has Rantanen, who is currently tied for 2nd in the league in points. Draisaitl has McDavid, who is the best player on planet Earth. To me, you definitely have to consider the rest of the team when deciding who deserves the Hart. The Hart is meant to go to the player who is most valuable to his team. Without Draisaitl, the Oilers are still a playoff team. Without MacKinnon, the Avalanche are still at least on the bubble. Moving onto Kucherov, the argument against him is clear: he does not care much about defense. His 200-foot game is nowhere near noteworthy, and an important part of being valuable to your team is also making sure that you put in the effort in your own zone. Thankfully for Kucherov, he can get away with it because he just put up 144 points in a season. However, if he didn’t win the Hart last year, then his 2019 victory might just be the only one he gets in his career. Kirill Kaprizov is actually a difficult player to argue against for the Hart Trophy (especially since I predicted he would win it before the season started). He leads his team in scoring by 20 and has been a driving force behind the fact that they’ve suddenly gone from missing playoffs to having a shot at the President’s Trophy. Minnesota has been slipping as of late, though, and Kaprizov’s name in the Hart conversation could start to fade slightly. There’s also the fact that 7 of his goals have come on an empty net.
It is still early in the season, and anything can happen over the next 48 games that the Canucks play. It’s still fun to think about these conversations, though. Right now, when you think of who is the most valuable to his team, it’s Quinn Hughes. He is absolutely carrying the Canucks right now, both on offense and defense. Without MacKinnon, Draisaitl, Kucherov, or Kaprizov, those teams can still make the playoffs (albeit, it would be a lot more difficult without those guys). Without Quinn Hughes, the Canucks are a lottery team. It’s really been a joy to watch him play this season. While the early goings of this NHL year have been a tough watch at times, you can always count on Quinn to draw some reactions from the crowd. Hopefully, the rest of the team can start to give him more help. Wasting this season from him would be a disaster.