Vancouver Canucks’ GM Jim Benning: Calder-finalist whisperer

Vancouver Canucks’ general manager Jim Benning seems to have a knack for selecting future Calder finalists, can his latest rookie do the same?

Can GM Jim Benning’s current top prospect Quinn Hughes conquer the 2020 Calder Memorial Trophy challengers to make it two in a row for the Vancouver Canucks, following Elias Pettersson‘s win a month ago?

It won’t be an easy task as New York Rangers prospect Kaapo Kakko seems poised to be the award’s top challenger this coming season.

For Canucks fans and the Hughes family alike, this race will be especially exciting because it also includes Quinn’s younger brother Jack Hughes, who after Kakko probably has the second-best odds to win the 2020 award for the NHL’s most impressive first-year player.

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For devout Vancouver fans, however, there’s still fair reason to expect that Quinn can outdo them all, or at least get himself onto the ballot, which would mean Canuck finalists three years in a row for Jim’s evermore-promising stable of young hockey players.

The case for Benning’s Calder cultivations will eventually include the club’s newest draft-pick extraordinaire, Vasili Podkolzin, who at tenth overall looks like yet another blatant draft-day theft. He could likely be a 2022 Calder finalist as by then, the goal-scoring forward will have had a couple more years of professional Russian hockey and homegrown maturing to further his cause for the award.

Perusing back over the last decade of finalists shows that Benning and his scouting staff are on the verge of challenging as the Calder kings of the modern-day NHL.

TOTAL NUMBER OF FINALISTS 2010-19:
3: Colorado (but only their most recent from 2014 was selected by current GM Joe Sakic)
2: Vancouver, Buffalo, Chicago, Edmonton, Florida, NY Islanders, Tampa Bay
1: Arizona, Calgary, Carolina, Columbus, Detroit, Montreal, New Jersey, Ottawa, Philadelphia, San Jose, St.Louis, Toronto, Winnipeg

Recent history suggests that Benning has done well with drafting actual Calder-calibre talent, and he could show even better over the next few seasons.

The future is looking bright for Benning and his boys, and the stakes and excitement levels are high, as the offseason view towards 2020 is predicting a tight race developing between Kakko, Jack, Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar, and Quinn.

Eligible challengers also include Canucks backup goaltender Thatcher Demko and defence prospect Olli Juolevi.

Unfortunately, the Canucks probably won’t have a finalist for the 2021 race, as neither Nils Höglander nor Jett Woo has the pedigree of top challengers. Both of these prospects were projected as late first-round picks but were actually taken early in the second.

Not to disparage, o’ ye faithful, as mentioned another outstanding Calder opportunity will be percolating in Russia. A couple of seasons from now prospect power forward Podkolzin could be catapulting into Calder contention by landing on then-third-year-NHLer Elias Pettersson’s wing, which by the end of 2021-22 could amount to the Canucks having finalists in four out of the last five years. This would be the stuff of legends.

Here’s a quick look back at how Benning and his finely tuned staff have turned up in a sentence following the word “legends.”

First, there was Brock Boeser from the 2015 NHL draft – Jim’s 2018-Calder-trophy finalist – who probably would’ve won it all if not for those meddling back and wrist injuries, as his 29 goals were on pace for 38 over 82 games, being the more anticipated feat than eventual winner Mathew Barzal‘s 63 assists. Having the 23rd-overall pick perform so well was a song and a verse for Benning.

This very next year the golden boy himself, Pettersson, won the 2019 Calder honour for Jim and his brain trust after scoring 66 points in his first 71 NHL games, setting the team record for most points by a rookie, outscoring five decades worth of Canucks, and earning league-wide acclaim as the steal of the 2017 draft.

The Hughes bros.

The youngest Canucks roster defenceman, Quinn, who turns 20 this October, could be the best skater in the world next to maybe only his brother Jack. The highly-rated prospect is the most talented defenceman ever drafted by the Canucks.

The flash feet come from starting young. The Detroit News has a great article for insight about the impressive athletic pedigree of the Hughes family and early development of their kids, like when baby brother Luke Hughes (the youngest of the three brothers) tried on skates for himself at just one-year-old.

With Quinn’s heavenly skating, elite-offensive instincts and the opportunity that should present itself with the Canucks this season, he projects as a top-four challenger in the quest for next season’s Calder Memorial Trophy, to be voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.

In his brief NHL look at the end of last season, Quinn had three assists in five games. Those few points extrapolate to 49.2 points over 82 games. Of course, this is only math but it begs the question if he can do that with a quick NHL introduction on an injury-riddled roster at the end of a long season, what will he accomplish this season with Benning’s fresh and playoff-emboldened lineup?

Noting that scoring is on the uptick league-wide, and considering the suddenly well-muscled Canucks lineup, an injury does seem somewhat avoidable for their young offensive stars this season. There’s good reason to believe Quinn can stay healthy and thrive as a creative defender, perhaps even approach 18-year-old Phil Housley‘s 1983 mark of 66 points in 77 games, fourth-most all time by an NHL-rookie defenceman.

While some few dozen years separate these two defenders, they have something of a similar skating style and skill, but will it ever be enough for Hughes to overcome all the challenges and challengers along the way?

History doesn’t bode well for Hughes

Like the 5’10” 179 lbs Housley – Buffalo’s sixth-overall selection in the 1982 draft – with his impressive rookie season that wasn’t even Calder worthy in 1983, just being a defenceman puts Hughes at a historical disadvantage in the ages-old Calder race. Only eleven defencemen have ever won the award since the records began in 1937.

What makes this an especially fun 2020 Calder race is that Quinn’s little brother Jack – the No.1-overall selection by the New Jersey Devils in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft last month – is one of the top-two favourites.

Hockey and maybe even reality TV fans will get to watch this family drama play out in the NHL all season long. Hold the high hopes for the Hugheses, however, as their lack of NHL-size and therefore durability could become their waning issue as the season grinds on.

Last season Quinn was a Housleyesque 5’10” 170 lbs, while his one-and-a-half-years-younger brother Jack checked in at exactly the same size. The heavy NHL grind is why Finnish rookie Kakko — the ballyhooed second-overall selection in June — is the Calder favourite.

At 6’2 190 lbs, the 18-year-old Rangers prospect comes ready-made for the NHL and is a giant compared to the Hughes brothers.

For different reasons both of the 2019-draft darlings, Jack and Kakko, appear neck and neck to win the 2020 Calder race. Jack could win because of his higher skill level, and Kakko for being physically primed to play against men.

Yet Quinn might win if he can manage to stay in for as long as the Fin, and therefore be more relevant down the stretch to impress when it comes time to campaign hard for the Calder votes. Or something like that.

Of all the top challengers, Quinn will probably have the most imposing wards in place to protect against cheapshot injury artists like that loser skidmark in Boston, as one of the recent free-agent signings – Micheal Ferland, J.T. Miller, Jordie Benn, and Myers – will surely always be on the ice to exact immediate revenge for endangering Francesco Aquilini‘s most prized business assets.

Notable from last year is that 18-year-old, rookie-sensation defenceman and Calder finalist Rasmus Dahlin scored 44 points for the Buffalo Sabres, and lost the vote to our main man Pettersson, who bested them all with 66 points in 71 games.

Vancouver’s outlook is much better for the upcoming season than Buffalo’s was last year, and at 19, Hughes is now a year older than Dahlin was at the start of his first NHL campaign. The soil in Vancouver looks perfect for the young defensive prospect to step up and play in a well-supported key role.

Let’s take a closer look at Quinn, his main competition, and a couple of the dark horses of local interest.

Kakko could easily become a permanent fixture on the Rangers top line where he’d benefit from the elite creativity of recently signed free agent and playmaking winger Artemi Panarin, not to mention having the support of hulking-offensive centre Mika Zibanejad.

A 70-plus-point season isn’t unreasonable if a lot goes right for Kakko and his Rangers. Or just as easy as the wind blows, Kakko could be relegated to middle-six duties, setting him up for a season with lesser talents, and thereby stunting his production to as few as 50 points. A lot can happen, to say the least.

In New Jersey, it appears more obvious that Jack should centre the top-offensive unit, and be protected by Wayne Simmonds. Jack could get the lion’s share of offensive-zone starts while playing with elite triggerman Taylor Hall. If they can all stay healthy Jack could easily score 70-plus points.

But like Canuck fans saw when their light-weight, rookie sensation Pettersson’s production slowed towards the end of last season, it’s a long and hard skate to play through an 82-game schedule and it wears on a kid.

Case and point, right-shot defenceman Erik Johnson‘s shoulder finally broke down at the end of the 2018-19 campaign forcing him to have offseason shoulder surgery, which may keep him out of the Avs lineup to start the season, and by way of vacuum thrust top-three-Calder challenger Colorado Cale Makar into a first-line role. Sakic will probably find a better solution before then, but also maybe not.

Other competition for Hughes

Expecting a rookie like Makar to fill the giant skates of 6’4″ 225 lbs Johnson would be asking a lot, especially defensively.

Offensively speaking, however, a 20-year-old, 5’11” 187 lbs, right-shot Makar scored six points in ten Avalance playoff games this spring, which extrapolates to 49.2 points over 82 games, the exact same rate that Quinn scored in his little cameo while being exactly one year younger.

The next closest challenger looks like 6’0″ 196 lbs, Detroit Red Wings left-shot winger Filip Zadina, who rounds out the top five on my list (found on the next page of this article). Unfortunately for Zadina, the crystal ball shows a second-line opportunity where Detroit’s lack of centre depth will stunt his offensive growth.

If key Canucks like Petey and Boeser take another step in their development… If the team enjoys an increase in creative space due to its newly acquired backbone… If Simmonds isn’t enough of a deterrent against Hughes bashing in New Jersey… If Kakko gets tied up in the NYR’s middle six… If Makar is overplayed and blows a tire… If head coach Travis Green evolves and doesn’t slowplay his talented rookie just to mind the veterans in his room… If Green shelters him defensively on a second or third pairing while favouring him with extra offensive-zone starts and top-powerplay assignments… then Quinn could have an unbelievable season and enough success to kick his brother’s butt in the Calder race.

Unbelievable talent begets unbelievable results, and he has the talent and the pedigree. If the story ever becomes Quinn breaking NHL all-time records it won’t seem out of place, but it ain’t gonna be easy.

Further to his point, even 1980 Los Angeles Kings fourth-overall-draft pick Larry Murphy – who still holds the record for most points ever by an NHL-rookie defenceman after scoring 76 points in 80 games in 1980-81 – could not win the Calder. Rookie NHL defencemen don’t get any respect at all, no respect.

There you have it Canucks fans, with perhaps the fourth-best odds, Hughes has a real shot to win the Calder Memorial Trophy or at least rank as a finalist, which would make it the third season in a row for the Canucks.

Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

After the next few seasons, what are the odds that Jim goes down as the Calder-finalist whisperer? Are Quinn and Podkolzin as talented as I think they are?

If you’d like to dive even deeper into the Calder race then check out my research on the next page, a rough list showing breakdowns and point projections for 38 of the NHL’s best young prospects who have the potential to start their rookie seasons next fall. Be sure to let me know if you have a differnt take on any player, especially if he’s a dark horse who could upset the top of my list.