Canucks Captain Quinn Hughes' Hot Start Ignites Buzz for Two Major NHL Awards

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Cooper Godin
November 8, 2024 (7:56 PM)

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Thanks to some success early on in the 2024-25 season, Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes has put himself into the conversation for a pair of major NHL trophies.

The Vancouver Canucks currently sit third in the Pacific Division with seven wins in 12 games and a big reason for their success so far is the play of captain Quinn Hughes, who leads the team with 14 points.

Because of Quinn Hughes' success, he certainly deserves to be in the conversation for not only the Norris Trophy, which is given to the league's best defenceman annually, but also the Hart Trophy, which the NHL hands out to the player that's most valuable player to his team.

Quinn Hughes in contention for the Norris and Hart Trophies

In a recent social media post, Stephan Roget of Canucks Army took a look at how important Quinn Hughes is to the Vancouver Canucks early on in the 2024-25 season.

By looking at several advanced statistics, the Vancouver Canucks look a complete different team with and without Quinn Hughes on the ice. It's worth noting that these statistics are from before yesterday's 4-2 win over Los Angeles where Hughes had a goal and an assist.

With Quinn Hughes on the ice, the Canucks have scored 13 goals, while only allowing four. When he's on the bench, the Canucks' goal differential is a negative, with 14 goals scored and 17 against.

The Canucks' expected goals percentage while Quinn Hughes is on the ice is 68.1, Corsi sat at 64.4% and their scoring chance percentage was 66.7. In all of those metrics, the Canucks look fantastic, but on the other side of the equation, with Hughes on the bench, it's not great - Expected Goals %: 45.6; Corsi: 45%; Scoring Chance %: 42.8.

Without Quinn Hughes, the Vancouver Canucks would be in a very tough position and the team is quite lucky to have him on their roster. Given the definition of the Hart Trophy - 'an annual award for the most valuable player to his team in the National Hockey League', there's no question Quinn Hughes deserves to be in the mix, if his strong play continues throughout the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.