Without captain Quinn Hughes, the Vancouver Canucks have a serious problem

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Maverick Mitchell
October 25, 2024 (2:28 PM)

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Even though the Vancouver Canucks have had a strong start to the season, reports and analytics suggest that the team is in serious trouble when Captain Quinn Hughes is not on the ice.

With Quinn Hughes on the ice, the Vancouver Canucks are an elite team; without Hughes...well, that's another story

It may sound like an obvious point that the team is a lot better when Quinn Hughes on the ice, as he is the reigning Norris Trophy winner and one of the NHL's best defensemen, but the analytics have proven how badly the Canucks need him. In all situations, the Canucks have out-scored their opponents 13 goals to 1 with Hughes on the ice.

Through six games, shot attempts are 163-to-92 for the Canucks when Hughes is on the ice at 5-on-5. Shots on goal are 81-to-42; goals are 7-to-2. Hughes leads the Canucks in corsi percentage (63.9%), shots on goal percentage (65.9%), and expected goals percentage (65.8%), all by a wide margin.

Why the Canucks are a completely different team without Quinn Hughes

Many might think these number only come because he leads the team on ice time and or he captains the powerplay, but the Canucks numbers 5 on 5 are drastically different when he is not playing, and it is not good.

The Blue shirts have out-shot the other teams they play against 81 to 42, which is almost a 2-to-1 margin. That's a plus-39 shot differential with Hughes on the ice - a huge advantage for the Canucks. The exact opposite occurs when he is not on the ice as their opponents have outshot 96-58 which comes out to a minus-38 shot differential.

This is whole the reason why Patrik Alvin has announced he is looking for an upgrade to their top-4 defense paring as they cannot just rely on Hughes and Hronek in every situation.

Every Canucks defenceman not named Hughes or Hronek has an expected goals percentage under 50%, meaning their opponents have out-chanced them at 5-on-5/

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