Is Quinn Hughes overrated?

[SaltNPeca]

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

Yeahhh, there are more than a handful of fanbases that would love to have "an overrated and struggling Quinn Hughes"

Comparing him to Makar and Heiskanen is a compliment. All those guys are absolute weapons and will only get better.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Yeahhh, there are more than a handful of fanbases that would love to have "an overrated and struggling Quinn Hughes"

Comparing him to Makar and Heiskanen is a compliment. All those guys are absolute weapons and will only get better.

He has a Sub 40% xGF% even with his games against Ottawa..my work computer is having trouble bring it up but I'm quite certain his GAR is a negative at this point including his PP prowess. He is hurting Canucks more than helping them at this point.

 

[BAM]

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

In the words of Oiler fans on this site, "dEvElOpMeNt iSn'T LiNeAr"

 

[Favin]

Not overrated.

Also - think the league should take a closer to look on Tavares trip on Hughes last night.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

In the words of Oiler fans on this site, "dEvElOpMeNt iSn'T LiNeAr"

It is for players like matthews I guess, when you don’t have the playmaking ability to really boost your points as you learn the NHL.

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

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.

We spent a year+ (covid extra months) having Hughes is better than Makar drilled into our heads because he played more games and had more points and we all knew and defended Cale saying it wasnt even close. The he dominates the Calder and we still hear chirping. Its nice to watch the truth come out.

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

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

I once again remind everyone of Tyler Myers. Every season after was a disappointment compared to his rookie and finally we figured out that is who he is and the rookie season was the anomaly. Still a fine NHL player, but not the Norris candidate we thought we'd have his whole career.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I think he’s only overrated by Canucks fans and even most of them have become more reasonable this season on what he is.

I think he’s a legit top 15 NHL defenseman already. Quite possibly the best defenseman in hockey with the puck on his stick. He’s really bad defensively but when you impact the game offensively and in transition the way Hughes you make due with his shortcomings and shelter him as best you can to avoid them.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

I think he’s only overrated by Canucks fans and even most of them have become more reasonable this season on what he is.

I think he’s a legit top 15 NHL defenseman already. Quite possibly the best defenseman in hockey with the puck on his stick. He’s really bad defensively but when you impact the game offensively and in transition the way Hughes you make due with his shortcomings and shelter him as best you can to avoid them.

Statistics say otherwise, I'm sure a quick browse of evolvinghockey will prove this to be true with GAR or WAR.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Statistics say otherwise, I'm sure a quick browse of evolvinghockey will prove this to be true with GAR or WAR.

I made like 4 different points in my post and you simply say statistics say otherwise. Which part are you talking about? Him being great offensively of bad defensively?

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

I made like 4 different points in my post and you simply say statistics say otherwise. Which part are you talking about? Him being great offensively of bad defensively?

Sorry, I thought it was obvious with my inclusion of GAR and WAR

"I think he’s a legit top 15 NHL defenseman already."

You are out of your mind if you think he is a top 15 defensmen.

 

[Avelanche]

He has a Sub 40% xGF% even with his games against Ottawa..my work computer is having trouble bring it up but I'm quite certain his GAR is a negative at this point including his PP prowess. He is hurting Canucks more than helping them at this point.

Without looking I’m pretty sure he’s near 50% and is War is near 0. All his stats are basically a net 0. corsi%, TGA/TGF, almost all the goals he’s been on the ice for he got a point in too.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

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.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

They should sit him for a game. He's struggling mightily defensively. He's young & talented, but he's killing the Canucks defensively right now. Just rest him, let him watch and help him work on his overall game. Do Canucks have a D/video coach that can work with him?

 

[eviohh26]

We spent a year+ (covid extra months) having Hughes is better than Makar drilled into our heads because he played more games and had more points and we all knew and defended Cale saying it wasnt even close. The he dominates the Calder and we still hear chirping. Its nice to watch the truth come out.

Most fans were saying they were close. While AV fans scream its not close. When Hughes is on his game he is very comparable to Makar.

 

[Slurpeelover27]

Can his ego take it though? It will also hurt his point totals, so no I don’t think he would take sitting very well, but I totally agree he should sit a game. Don’t think Green has the kohonas to do it though.

 

[IPS]

Probably the worst defensemen in the league in his own zone

 

[redandyellowcametobe]

Most fans were saying they were close. While AV fans scream its not close. When Hughes is on his game he is very comparable to Makar.

Nope. Maybe offensively, sure. But when when you say Hughes is on his game, is Makar off his? Makar made Ryan Graves look like a top four defenseman last season. Now that graves is off that pairing he looks dreadful and Makar looks even better. Makar is playing in his own end like a #1 being leaned on with heavy minutes and hasn’t faltered (yet). He’s physical, will step into guys and been solid in his own zone. It’s early this season , but the difference in their own zone is about a wide margin you can get.

 

[El Travo]

View attachment 392923

Hughes had a lower ppg% than Makar last year and it's the same this season so far, despite Hughes playing in the worst division defensively. I don't get this whole "Hughes is better offensively" stuff.

 

[Killer Orcas]

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.

Of course, every fan base has their homers and speaking of nobody has as many homers as Leafs fans. However, on the flip side, nobody has as many sane fans as Leafs as well. Reason being they have the most fans by a bit I'd imagine. My point is yes we Canucks have some clueless fans but we've got some great ones too. This Makar - Hughes thing is silly really and always brought up regardless of thread why? By the way, I think Makar is better not even mentioning the fact he's RHD which is always harder to find. Yes, Hughes needs to improve his defence everyone knows that but he's 21 and playing for a bad defensive team you really think he's gonna be good defensively right away? Put Makar on Canucks you think he's still as good as he is playing on a stacked Avs roster? Again let me be clear I'm not saying Hughes is as good as Makar he's not. However, Hughes will be better defensively when the team around him is stronger and not just a bunch of talented kids with a bunch of overpaid bottom 6'ers and a weak D. I am excited to see that he has an offensive flair but we need to find him a defensive partner that works well with him. Tanev was that but he was getting old and as much as I miss him that contract will not age well.

 

[nobody]

A defenseman's primary objective is to defend their own goal from getting scored on. The secondary objective is transitioning the puck up the ice. The third objective is offensive contributions. Hughes is elite at 2/3 of those things. Unfortunately, the lack of 1st thing nullifies the latter 2.

 

[Killer Orcas]

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.

Guess Seth Jones and Zach Werenski suck to in your opinion they are minus 9 to Hughes minus 10 this year. The plus-minus great stat isn't it? By the way, Jones and Werenski are both top pairing players if not both 1D. John Carlsson is a bum to I'd imagine in your opinion as well he's a minus 5.

 

[AvsCOL]

He'll be fine. He's having a tough start, but he's still a young elite player. The issues with the Canucks go a lot deeper than Hughes playing poorly defensively. The whole team looks lost on defense right now.

I do think he needs to be smarter with the puck though. It's fine to jump into the play, but also know that you can't do it every play. He'll figure it out.

 

[tucker3434]

A defenseman's primary objective is to defend their own goal from getting scored on. The secondary objective is transitioning the puck up the ice. The third objective is offensive contributions. Hughes is elite at 2/3 of those things. Unfortunately, the lack of 1st thing nullifies the latter 2.

I don’t have a problem with high-event hockey as long as your offensive prowess adequately covers for your defensive deficiencies. Long term, I doubt Hughes will have a problem. Right now, it’s not great.

 

[4EDM14OIL93]

In the words of Oiler fans on this site, "dEvElOpMeNt iSn'T LiNeAr"

This is embarrassing lmao you are still butthurt over that (true) statement?