Is Quinn Hughes overrated?

[BusQuets]

Some growing pains. There are some things he need to figure out to become a more complete defenseman.

 

[6ix]

Doesn’t play great D, small and weak in his own zone. Defensive awareness and compete level leaves lot to be decided in his own zone.

Excellent offensive instincts and skating, development with D men is almost never linear. He might a rough few years ahead of him in his own zone.

Bingo. Might be better suited as a winger.

 

[Zanon]

Sure seems to find his way on the scoresheet every night, though. 71 points in 87 career games.

 

[snipes]

Trade Hughes for Makar or Heiskanen, any of the 3 would fail in the current role he’s expected to play. He’s a 21 year old offensive defenceman whoa expected to play both sides of the ice because Vancouver only has one other good defender

Makar and especially Heiskanen are drastically better two way players than Hughes. They’re just straight up more complete and better players than Hughes.

 

[Kalamazoo Wings]

He's a heck of an offensive weapon and has great edge work/foot work and that's fun to watch. He's going to always put up points since he's given every last second of offensive chances playing full 2 min on PPs and 4 on 4s. But defensively he's got a ways to go to be a true #1. He's very much a modern day Phil Housley, good offensively but maybe lacking in his own end. If he rounds his game out he'll be even more overrated than he already is.

 

[Three On Zero]

Makar and especially Heiskanen are drastically better two way players than Hughes. They’re just straight up more complete and better players than Hughes.

No dispute that they are better, it’s the fact they wouldn’t succeed with the supporting cast and would still flounder in Vancouver’s system

 

[McPoyle]

Lots of Avs fans in this thread. Similar thing happens with Draisaitl threads lol.

Based on this thread I would say no hes not overrated, probably underrated. He's being leaned on to lead a D core on a pretty bad defensive team. Thats a very tough job for a sophomore.

32 nhl gm's would gladly take him on their rosters.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Trade Hughes for Makar or Heiskanen, any of the 3 would fail in the current role he’s expected to play. He’s a 21 year old offensive defenceman whoa expected to play both sides of the ice because Vancouver only has one other good defender

How can we know this? Is the greatness of Quinn Hughes so undeniable that Makar, or Heiskanen would crumble if put in his place? Weird take.

 

[eviohh26]

How can we know this? Is the greatness of Quinn Hughes so undeniable that Makar, or Heiskanen would crumble if put in his place? Weird take.

thats what you got out of what he said? hahaha

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

thats what you got out of what he said? hahaha

Cale Makar led his team to a win in his last game while the Avs were missing six players, including MacKinnon, Johnson, and Toews.

He tallied one assist, played 26:23, including 4 minutes on the PK.

I’m tired of people acting like he’s carried by his teammates and all his success is based off of situation.

I don’t want to say bad things about Quinn Hughes because I think he’s a bright young talent in the game. When he’s at top form he’s a really special player.

But, damn people need to realize that these two players have different styles and Makar is not just thriving because of his situation.

 

[mattydamon]

Avs fans COVID issues giving them plenty of time to come and troll in this thread I see, stay classy!

 

[MattySnipes]

Cale Makar led his team to a win in his last game while the Avs were missing six players, including MacKinnon, Johnson, and Toews.

He tallied one assist, played 26:23, including 4 minutes on the PK.

I’m tired of people acting like he’s carried by his teammates and all his success is based off of situation.

I don’t want to say bad things about Quinn Hughes because I think he’s a bright young talent in the game. When he’s at top form he’s a really special player.

But, damn people need to realize that these two players have different styles and Makar is not just thriving because of his situation.

Makar is the real deal Holyfield.

Hughes will be good like you say, but there is a clear gap btwn these 2 now.

 

[Muffin]

-3 and walked multiple times all night but he got a garbage assist passing the puck to Miller on the PP so all is good.

I know +/- isn't a great stat but when you're a Defenseman last on the team in +/- is not a good look.
Vancouver Canucks Stats | 2020-2021

 

[AvroArrow]

He looked awful defensively. He can make plays with the puck but man he can't defend for shit. Bad pinch, terrible penalty after getting danced by JT, bad positioning in front. You can put 3 goals on him.

 

[Semantics]

Reminds me of a young Erik Karlsson - should be a forward.

 

[Slurpeelover27]

What about 150? There's a reason he gets so many points, it's not just luck. He's still a dominant player on the ice and controls, breaks out of the zone. He's flawed as a 21 yo, it doesn't make him overrated because everyone's already taking that into account.

Vancouver's problems defensively right now fall as much on the forwards as the defensemen IMO.

Ian Macintyre article just said in today’s game the Canucks were outshot 10 to 3 when Hughes was on the ice during 5 v 5. Need more?

He also leads the league for being on the ice for 23 goals against even strength which is a whopping 6 more than anyone else! That’s 23 out of 37 goals against at evens. Only 62 %.

And at minus 10 he sits 2nd worst in the ENTIRE league! For further context Hughes is on pace for a MINUS 59 over a full season which puts him on pace to be just slightly better than to put him in a top 10 WoRST plus/minus in the history of the NHL!!!!

Its also just not the metrics. The eye test is what I go by even more and he looks just as bad or worse if you pay attention.

 

[Raistlin]

Let me just state that Hughes has been playing way below his level so far this year. It's an adjustment year for the whole team, until we get out from the cap albatrosses in the bottom six.

He lost his rock in year one, it's not surprising to me that he is suffering, playing the most games of anyone without enough of a training camp to get used to a new partner will make you look bad.. though he is looking bad while still contributing on offense.

If you watch enough of his games you'll realize these generalizations comparing him to Barrie etc is ridiculous, just because they are both pedestrian defensively based on 2021 games doesn't mean they have the same ceiling. Hughes will tilt the ice in a way only he can when he finds his game I don't think it's outlandish to say it's his unique trait. Last years success can be attributed to his dominance in transition, he completely revamped our PP once he took over from Edler. Vancouver never had a guy like that in its 50 year history. So far we haven't seen much of that dominance at all I regret to say, sophomore slump?

These four defensemen are rated in a spectrum. The most offensive is Hughes. Doing the most offensively, with the lowest potential in defense. The other side is Heiskanen, a rock on D but a lower ceiling offensively, not able to outshine Klingberg's offense in Dallas. Makar is in between, not a superstar on D but almost as good as Hughes at generating offense, the most potential in goal scoring. Dahlin still has the most potential in the long run based on his physical frame and trackrecord. It's always been about preference. Ppl downplaying the fact that he's leading the league in D points is just not being fair, he is doing it right now with a very ineffective Pettersson and Miller.

 

[TBF1972]

Yes however some just can't be happy they have to hate on others oh well. What can you do I suppose.

and you don't think this is a little bit self inflicted by the vancouver fanbase on hfb?
- after the first game of the season there was a mainboard thread about hughes having executed the pass of the year.
- everybody has seen the countless threads of quinn better than makar/heiskannen last year.
- i remember posts from vancouver fans saying barzal only won the calder because boeser got hurt.
- or with mcd, drai, matthews, marner, pettersson and boeser playing in the north, it should be obvious that the art ross should go to a canadian team.
- and i don't want to go into the pettersson stuff.

like every fan base vancouver has every facet of posters from too critical, reasonable, biased, homers to completely out of the world fans. but as a whole in my personal ranking of fan bases most disconnected from reality vancouver is in the top 3 ahead of the toronto maple leafs.
so if you wonder, where the hate on hfb comes from. it's just the echo of what your fan base is posting on this board.

 

[Honest M]

Reminds me of a young Erik Karlsson - should be a forward.

Karlsson won the norris at 22 and was dominant, can happen but seams unlikely atm for Hughes.

 

[klozge]

I don't think there's much sense in focussing on him now. He needs some time to calm down defensively and work on a few things. The current situation (CoViD season) isn't exactly ideal for him to do this.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Reminds me of a young Erik Karlsson - should be a forward.

Except...Mr EK65 at Quinn's age had just finished his rookie season in the NHL, 5 goals, 21 assists in 60 games
+ 11 assists in 10 AHL games.

Where as Mr Hughes already has 71 points in 87 career games...
- when Mr EK65 got 71 points in the NHL, he had about 150 games played in the NHL
and was 23 at the time...

Thou....i suppose...he was young Erik Karlsson, even at 23, so you are correct with that
and if you meant the defensive side of EK65,..he has always sucked lol

 

[Honest M]

Except...Mr EK65 at Quinn's age had just finished his rookie season in the NHL, 5 goals, 21 assists in 60 games
+ 11 assists in 10 AHL games.

Where as Mr Hughes already has 71 points in 87 career games...
- when Mr EK65 got 71 points in the NHL, he had about 150 games played in the NHL
and was 23 at the time...

Thou....i suppose...he was young Erik Karlsson, even at 23, so you are correct with that
and if you meant the defensive side of EK65,..he has always sucked lol

Not much right. 2011-12 Karlsson was dominant and potted 78 points in 81 games. He was 21-22 years old and won the norris, at 22.

 

[RationalExpectations]

He is only overrated because fans have unreal expectations. 21 year old playing 20+ minutes a line vs top lines, already having a good PP impact.

He has to improve his defensive game A LOT but who does not at his age ? He needs to really focus on these aspects, else he will become a pure offensive Dman, who has a lot of market value (see Karlsson) BUT a potential defensive liability.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Trade Hughes for Makar or Heiskanen, any of the 3 would fail in the current role he’s expected to play. He’s a 21 year old offensive defenceman whoa expected to play both sides of the ice because Vancouver only has one other good defender

Actually, he isnt expected to play both sides of the ice. They are force feeding him easy minutes. His OZONE start is astronomical.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Actually, he isnt expected to play both sides of the ice. They are force feeding him easy minutes. His OZONE start is astronomical.

I had to look it up.

He's rocking a 79% offensive zone start%.

That's absurdly high.

You shouldn't be getting crushed in corsi, xGF, scoring chances and such with that kind of push for offensive zone starts.

For example, Nate Schmidt is getting 32% offensive zone starts but putting up vastly superior advanced stats than Hughes.