2. Quinn finishes second in Calder voting behind brother Jack
This may be the most wide open Calder Trophy race in NHL history. There are at least seven prime candidates in Quinn and Jack Hughes, Kappo Kakko, Ryan Poehling, Cale Makar, Maxime Comtois and Alexandre Texier. You can argue that there are more than a dozen candidates, however.
Now, Jack should be considered the favorite to win it — being the No. 1 pick and all. He has all the makings to be a true franchise-changing star. Of course, Kakko is entering a nice situation with the New York Rangers. Artemi Panarin will help the slick Finnish stud maximize his skill set right away. And of course, some early NHL experience will give Makar an advantage in the Calder Trophy race.
Quinn dazzled in his five games for the Canucks last season, tallying three assists while displaying phenomenal chemistry with Boeser and Pettersson. He’ll get plenty of power play minutes, and Hughes is in good position to put up 35-plus points with the Canucks. That should be enough for him to earn a Calder nomination.
But when all is said and done, Quinn will lose the friendly Calder Trophy battle to younger brother Jack (just for fun, we’ll say Kakko is the other nominee here). The New Jersey Devils rookie should put up strong numbers with 2017-18 Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall and All-Star blueliner P.K. Subban supporting him.
I’m going to guess that Hughes will put up around 30 goals and 70 points to win the Calder. Quinn will finish second after tallying 10 goals and 37 points. Kakko will finish third with 25 goals and 57 point on the season.
Thanks to Jack, the Canucks fall just short in icing back-to-back Calder Trophy winners.