Canucks: Quinn Hughes deserves Norris Trophy consideration

Rookie defenceman Quinn Hughes deserves Norris Trophy consideration after he completely revolutionized the Vancouver Canucks’ blue line in less than a year.

One thing that shined brighter than most for the Vancouver Canucks this season was the utter domination and outer-world talent portrayed by their prized rookie defenseman, Quinn Hughes.

So much can be said about the 20-year-old kid, but to put it simply, he was nothing short of spectacular for Vancouver. With confidence, he said early on this year that his game would only improve and all throughout the 2019-20 campaign his consistent game only sharpened as he played more games and got more comfortable at the National Hockey League level.

Through 69 regular-season games, Hughes for the majority of the season was neck and neck with Cale Makar in the rookie scoring race. Late into the season, Hughes managed to surpass Makar to get a hold of the lead on top of all other rookies and up until the NHL freeze Hughes worked to tighten his grip on the Calder Memorial Trophy.

With Hughes tied for fourth in scoring amongst all defenders across the league with 53 points (8 goals and 45 assists) and only two points back of third place overall, you can’t help but consider the rookie a serious contender for a Norris Trophy nomination. Let’s dive into three supporting factors as to why Hughes could be considered a finalist.

1. He’s one of the NHL’s most elite power play specialists

If there is a single element to the Vancouver Canucks overall product that improved the most this season it has to be the effectiveness of the power play. With the arrival of Hughes as a full-time defender of Vancouver, head coach Travis Green keened in on his incredible instincts and was able to inject the defender beyond his years into the team’s first man-advantage unit.

The power play quarterback went to work, took over for long time top blueliner, Alex Edler and never looked back. Using his incredibly quick feet, superb vision and superstar passing ability, he turned the Canucks’ 22nd place power play of 2018-19 into a very serious top-five threat of 2019-20.

The predictable Elias Pettersson to Brock Boeser set up before Hughes arrived was exactly that, but when Hughes took over the PP1 in mid-October, he was able to use his skills to elevate the game of the team’s top two snipers (Pettersson and Boeser) all while also bringing out the best in J.T. Miller and Bo Horvat.

The entire five-person unit benefitted greatly from the addition of Hughes and they all had career special team numbers because of him. Miller and Hughes were tied at 25 for the team lead in power play points. Horvat scored the most man-advantage goals (12) on the team and of his seven-year career. But most importantly, Hughes was able to create time and space for Pettersson to get open and unleash his incredible Ovechkin-like one-timer.

Amongst NHL blueliners, Hughes ranked third in overall points and that’s just another reason why the NHL can’t sleep on the incredible impact he made in Vancouver. A rookie dominating his class, but also more than proving he can put up points just like the best of the best can across the league.

2. He’s doing things that haven’t been done since Lidstrom and Bourque

It’s not very often that a franchise defenceman enters the National Hockey League and becomes an impact player overnight. It’s actually a lot rarer than any other position in the game of hockey today. About once a decade or so (give or take), a blueliner changes an NHL franchise and the game completely.

For the Canucks and their 50-year history, they have never possessed such a powerful player to walk the blueline. As a matter of fact, very few NHL teams get to say they have a game-changing defender in their arsenal, especially one’s who touching and eclipsing records that haven’t been touched in nearly 30 years.

For starters, the American roamer was able to accomplish rookie feats that haven’t been done since Niklas Lidstrom scored 50+ points in 1991-92. Not only did Hughes surpass the 50-point mark, but he was also well on his way to 60+ points. Unfortunately, the season was halted 13 games before the close of the regular 82-game grind and the fans may never get to see what could have been, but having your name compared to an NHL great like that can only be a good thing.

Ray Bourque is another NHL legend Hughes drew comparisons to this season and with good reason. Hughes backed up his incredible playmaking ability with a historic statistic to add to his incredible rookie year. Four times this season Hughes managed to put up three assists in a single game. He joins Bourque as the only rookie defender to ever accomplish something so special and honestly who knows what Hughes could have done with 13 more games? It’s very realistic that Hughes could have topped the record given the chance.

Being compared to not one superstar defender of the past but two at any point in an NHL career is a true honour. To be able to have your name spoken in the same sentence as those two as a rookie is an entirely different animal, and that’s what Hughes is. He’s a pure offensive beast on the Canucks’ blueline.