If you ask the Canucks’ coaching staff and players about Quinn Hughes, they’ll tell you his value is incalculable. He takes on the toughest matchups, plays against the top lines each night, and still has plenty in the tank – of which he uses to make franchise history.
And speaking of franchise history, on Thursday evening at the NHL Awards, Quinn Hughes became the first Canuck to receive the James Norris Trophy for the NHL’s top defenceman.
The Canucks captain was joined in Las Vegas at the 2024 NHL Awards by his mom, dad, and brothers, and as he accepted the award, he shared a few words with those in attendance.
“First off, I'd like to thank my teammates. It's a great group of guys and the reality of winning an award like this is you can't do it alone, and you need really good players around you and I certainly have that, so thanks fellas. To my coaching staff, Rick Tocchet, Adam Foote, Sergei Gonchar, great group of people, love playing for you guys. Patrik Allvin, Jim Rutherford, thank you for your continued mentorship and trust. To the Aquilini family, Roberto and Francesco for being here, especially Michael Doyle as well. Nobody cares more about the city and the fans and our team than you guys, so thank you.” Hughes said.
“My family, more than anything, my brothers, it's surreal to be able to go through the same profession as you guys and my parents, for your continued support and love.”
Hughes had high praise for the other Norris nominees – Roman Josi and Cale Makar – in his acceptance speech.
“Roman Josi congrats on a great season. When I think Nashville Predators, I think [of] you and you’re a fantastic player and they're lucky to have you and Cale [Makar], I probably love watching my brothers play most, but I'd say you're next on that list and I learn a lot from you. So congrats on another great season and I appreciate you guys,” Hughes said.
Hughes has shown greatness year over year, putting together his most impressive season yet, as the first Canuck to win the Norris.
The blue-liner defends with speed and intelligence, and prides himself on being a two-way player.
He led all NHL defenceman in points with 92 (17-75-92), his 75 assists tying Henrik Sedin for second place in franchise history, and he now has three consecutive seasons with 60 or more assists (60 in 2021-2022 and 69 in 2022-2023).
Hughes finds himself in elite company as one of the three defencemen in NHL history with at least nine games with three or more assists in a single season. The other two defencemen are Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque.
The 24-year-old continued to break records through the Canucks’ playoff run. It was game two against the Oilers (Hughes’ 25th career playoff game) that he recorded his 20th career playoff assist, making him the fastest defenceman in Canucks’ history to reach that mark and the third-fastest defenceman to assist on 20 goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs behind Gary Suter (23 games) and Adam Fox (24 games).
He is also the first defenceman in franchise history to record multiple 10-point postseasons.
