As he's growing his legacy as one of the franchise's top d-man, he's been marking history ever since he entered the league. Having his name alongside Brian Leetch, Paul Coffey, and Raymond Bourque, three legends among NHL players, surely is something worth mentioning.
Dan Riccio, a Sportsnet650 and Canucks Central analyst had a very hot take on the level of hockey Quinn Hughes has given us this year:
Joined by Satiar Shah, the pair discussed the subject and gave points favoring Hughes. Even though Karlsson is having a career year offensively speaking, he's barely even playing in his own zone, and statistically speaking, he's been on 23 more goals against than the Canucks' very own Hughes.
Karlsson has been nothing short of spectacular he leads all defensemen with 85 points in 70 outings, and he could be the first defenseman to hit the 100 point-barrier in the 21st century. However, his defensive output is atrocious and his differential stands a -14 for it. On the hand, Hughes stands at 65 points in just as many outings, which places him 4th amongst the league's defensemen. His defensive output has been just as good with a +16 differential, in the team who stands at 28th for goals against.
Karlsson's offensive prowess since the beginning of the season as him the obvious leader in the Norris race, but is the Norris trophy about the defenseman with the most point? Or should the ability to defend take a bigger place in the poll?
SOURCE: Canucks Central
POLL | ||
Should Erik Karlsson be favoured to Quinn Hughes in the Norris rankings? | ||
Yes | 167 | 40.8 % |
No | 242 | 59.2 % |
List of polls |