Quinn Hughes is having a Hart caliber season and it’s not talked about enough

[M2Beezy]

Hes too small and cant play defense

 

[Canucks LB]

Hes too small and cant play defense

 

[RobertKron]

Hes too small and cant play defense

He's actually 6'4" but the league won't let him stand up straight out of fairness to the competition.

 

[Connor McConnor]

We just had a Hart thread and Hughes was regularly mentioned in the top 5. Not sure I think it’s fair to say “he’s not being talked about”. The injury cooled the talk a little bit but the bigger thing is how bad the team is this year. If he was playing like this and the Canucks were higher in the standings he’d be a universal top 3 pick.

 

[MXD]

I would have no problems giving him the Norris AND the Hart, provided things remain exactly as they were in the first half and he doesn't slow down due to his hand injury.

But the Hart award is very slanted toward forwards, possibly because there is a separate best D-Men award and a separate best goalie award.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I really like Werenski this year,

 

[Sol]

lol Quinn Hughes hart…

 

[Leafshater67]

I wonder what it would take to get someone like Rasmus Andersson on this roster. Pettersson and Miller don’t really fit Calgary’s window or what they’re trying to do I wouldn’t say.

 

[nucksflailtogether]

No PDO to save them this year.

Here are the overachieving teams of 2025.

View attachment 960093

PDO helped but they are objectively playing worse than last year too with infinitely worse injury trouble. It's actually a miracle they're still in it.

 

[Albatros]

2025 Phil Housley.

 

[Hammman]

2025 Phil Housley.

Show your work. Justify your comparison without referring to either player's height.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I really like Werenski this year,

Yes, Werenski is also having a Hart caliber season. Who else is missing?

 

[winnipegger]

He's quite impressive. A real goon as well. Earning quite a reputation for throwing his weight around and injuring unsuspecting men.

 

[Svencouver]

Technically Hronek is part of that defensive core and should be back soon. But either way canucks have a #1 D, a #2/3 in Hronek, and then a bunch of #6 or worse. When Myers is minimizing the chaos he's probably in the 4 range, but he's all over the map.

When i suggested after the playoffs last year that the canucks would take a step back after losing a few D-men i was ripped to shreds, then this year they ice this line up.

as for Makar, MacK has like 11 EN points, so its an inflated lead, also scoring is up as a whole with EN's because teams are pulling goalies with like 4-5 minutes left. Its skewing stats.

The problem is twofold, really. One, the personnel itself, and two, the situation the personnel have ended up in. Myers and Soucy was, for the most part, our middle pair last year too, and our top pair of Hughes-Hronek was also obviously the same. All we lost was Zadorov, who was a mid-season acquisition, and Cole, who was a pretty old #6-7 at best.

The issue has really been that Soucy has gotten way worse sort of inexplicably, which means Myers has lost his stabilizing force, and that Hronek has been injured, which has pushed everyone up the lineup into roles they cant handle. Forbort and Desharnais aren't good, but they aren't really any worse than the bottom pairing we had last year pre-Zadorov - they're just filling in minutes that they have no business playing. This has also forced Juulsen to consistently play in the lineup, and Juulsen is f***ing terrible.

All in all, we're a crippled, out-of-sorts D-core full of players playing in the wrong spots and filling the wrong roles, and most crucially - none of them except for Hughes can move the puck. This cripples our neutral zone play, our transition game, and our offense, really just everything. As was posted earlier, the numbers of our forwards without hughes are horrific not just because of how great Hughes is, but because trying to play modern hockey without the ability to move the puck from the back is just impossible. It sort of just goes to further emphasize just how good Hughes is - the role of a Defenseman in todays game is more than just defending, it's being the foundation for every facet of your teams system from the backend. Absolutely no one in the league is better at doing that than Hughes.

 

[Albatros]

Show your work. Justify your comparison without referring to either player's height.

Impressive offensive production and not much to show defensively. Doesn't hit, doesn't block shots, rarely takes the puck from anyone. Defensively a Tyler Myers is another level.

 

[EquivalentStay]

Conor Garland gonna score 60 points this year from Hughes banking it in the net off of him, give him the Norris for sure, and should get some Hart votes as well.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

Thats got to be the worst defence in NHL history for a borderline playoff team. Its Hughes and 6 AHL/#6 Dmen.

Not even remotely close.

The 99/00 habs missed the playoffs on the last day of the season and rolled out this d group

Brisebois
Dykhuis
Rivet
Bouillon
Lachance
Corpse of Eric Weinrich

There have been some truly awful d cores that have flirted with the playoffs and even made the playoffs. This year's Canucks are nothing notable.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

There is no argument (at this point of the season). Hughes is better on ice by every advanced stat and shifts the ice for his team in a way that is matched by no one. Miller and Pettersson are getting caved in at even strength without Hughes.

Saying "theres always an argument for Makar for Norris" is just going off his reputation and name.

Every major news source I read says Makar is the favorite, betting sites say so and the advanced stats nerds all show Makar doing great.

Saying Makar isn't leading or that's its a two-horse race is ignorance at best.

There's this insanity that's been spreading that is trying to compare Makar to a modern day Karlsson. His defense is amongst the best in the league. He controls the game offensively as well as anyone else. And his shot is the best from the blue line bar none. I can't believe the best defenseman in the league needs to be defended like this, on a forum of people that are well above average in their knowledge of the game.

 

[Javaman]

Without Hughes, the Canucks, especially given the injuries to key players, would have a legit chance at a top 5 pick in the 2025 draft.

With a healthy Hughes, despite the injuries to key players, the Canucks almost certainly make the playoffs.

With a fully healthy Hughes, plus a healthy roster, plus a savvy TDL acquisition for genuine top 4 defenseman, the Canucks are once again a top 5 contender for the Cup

So yeah, if we acknowledge that there is a difference between most valuable and most outstanding, Hughes should get both the Hart and the Norris.

But we're only halfway through the season. Things may change.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Nearly everyone else on their roster has been injured and/or playing below the level they were last season, it's impressive how Quinn Hughes(and Lankinen I guess) has kept Vancouver in the playoff race.

 

[majormajor]

Every major news source I read says Makar is the favorite, betting sites say so and the advanced stats nerds all show Makar doing great.

Saying Makar isn't leading or that's its a two-horse race is ignorance at best.

There's this insanity that's been spreading that is trying to compare Makar to a modern day Karlsson. His defense is amongst the best in the league. He controls the game offensively as well as anyone else. And his shot is the best from the blue line bar none. I can't believe the best defenseman in the league needs to be defended like this, on a forum of people that are well above average in their knowledge of the game.

I wouldn't bet against Makar winning it in the end, but if you ask me who the best player has been through the halfway point I might say Quinn Hughes. Analytically, whether you're looking at xG or G outcomes, the Canucks are such a dramatically better team with him on the ice that I can't ignore it. He's also scored a lot more than his teammates. Rantanen and Mackinnon both have 2x as many points as the second best scorer on the Canucks. Werenski is also having a monster season and is leading a (currently) playoff team in scoring. All three have strong defensive results too. Not a lot to put Makar ahead.

 

[Rowlet]

Every major news source I read says Makar is the favorite, betting sites say so and the advanced stats nerds all show Makar doing great.

Saying Makar isn't leading or that's its a two-horse race is ignorance at best.

There's this insanity that's been spreading that is trying to compare Makar to a modern day Karlsson. His defense is amongst the best in the league. He controls the game offensively as well as anyone else. And his shot is the best from the blue line bar none. I can't believe the best defenseman in the league needs to be defended like this, on a forum of people that are well above average in their knowledge of the game.

When MacKinnon isn't on the ice, Makar is actually below average at controlling the game. His corsi, fenwick, and expected stats are usually about 43% in favour of the Avalanche, the Avalanche with neither Makar or MacKinnon on the ice is roughly 50%.

 

[5 14 6 1]

The Canucks kind of stink right now, and to win the Hart a team shouldn't massively miss on expectations. Though in terms of his talent level I agree he deserves a nomination right now.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Quinn Hughes this season has been unreal.

Canucks d core for the last 22 games has been: Myers, Forbort, Juulsen, Soucy, Desharnais, Brannstrom, Brisebois, and Freidman. the Canucks are 19-13-10 right now with our other two stars struggling is all thanks to Hughes.

He has 47 points as of today, leads all defenseman in PPG (1.26), leads his team in points by 17, and his next closest defensive counterpart has a whopping 12 points. He has 9 goals while the rest of the d core combined have 6 goals. He has more points than the rest of the d core combined.

He’s been a possession monster and leads the entire NHL with longest time with the puck in the offensive zone.

The team without Hughes is just downright terrible. For instance, Pettersson and Miller with and without Hughes (this season):

View attachment 960057
View attachment 960058

Hughes also has 131 more high danger chances than his next closest teammate. Obviously a bit biased here, but simply put, Hughes defines the most valuable player in it’s literal terms.

These numbers are from All Situations, which means the time EP40 and Miller are away from Hughes includes 20+ minutes of PK time for each of them, compared to only 1 or 2 PK minutes with him. And their time together is 85+ minutes on the PP for Miller+Hughes, and 100+ minutes for EP40+Hughes, but less than 20 minutes on the PP away from him. So, how much of these drastic differences is Hughes and how much is usage?

If you look at just ES numbers for a more apples to apples comparison, there's still an obvious difference with Hughes on the ice, but the xGF/GA numbers aren't skewed as much by the unequal special teams play.

 

[castle]

The Canucks kind of stink right now, and to win the Hart a team shouldn't massively miss on expectations. Though in terms of his talent level I agree he deserves a nomination right now.

I've seen nomination thrown around a couple times. I didn't think there were nominations. They just voted and then count the votes and that's it. As far as I know they can vote for anyone.