It’s a day that ends in Y, which means there’s been more league-wide recognition for Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes for the incredible start he’s had to this season.
Today, Hughes was named the NHL’s third star of the month for November. Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov was the first star while Colorado’s Cale Makar nabbed second star honours.
Breaking down Hughes’ month statistically:
*He registered five goals and 17 assists for 22 points over the 15 games the Canucks played last month. In doing so, the 24-year-old set a franchise record for points in a calendar month by a defenceman. That eclipsed the old mark of 21 belonging to Dennis Kearns which had stood for nearly 46 years. Kearns had 1+20=21 in March of 1977. Over the month, Hughes led the Canucks and was tied for ninth in the NHL averaging 25:12 per game. That included a season-high 29:49 in San Jose on November 25th. He also logged 29:24 on November 15th when he scored the overtime game winner against the New York Islanders.
*Hughes matched a franchise record for points by a defencemen in a single game with a goal and four assists in the Canucks 10-1 win in San Jose to open the month on November 2nd. That was a new career-high for points in a game for Hughes and was one of four multi-point games he had last month. Twice earlier in his career, Hughes has registered four points in a game.
*Hughes’ month also included a personal best 11-game point streak from November 6th through 25th during which he racked up four goals and 17 points. He’s the second Canucks defender along with Filip Hronek to have an 11-game point streak. Remarkably, that’s the first time in NHL history that two teammates from the same team have stretched individual points streaks to 11 games in the same season. And they did so in the first 24 games of the season.
*In November, Hughes logged 275:40 at 5-on-5 according to Natural Stat Trick. That was seventh among all NHL players. In those minutes, the Canucks controlled 54.5% of all shot attempts, 54.3% of all scoring chances and outscored opponents 16-9. His time on ice was second Hronek (284:03) for the month. The Canucks and Islanders both had two defencemen in the top seven in 5-on-5 ice time for the month.
November marked the second straight month that a Canuck has been recognized by the league with Elias Pettersson capturing second star honours for October. It’s also the second straight month a Hughes has been a league star with Quinn’s brother Jack named the NHL’s first star for October.
December is shaping up to be a big month for the Hughes family. With New Jersey in Vancouver next Tuesday (December 5th), it could be the first time all three Hughes brothers share NHL ice with youngest brother Luke in his rookie season with the Devils. Quinn and the Canucks then visit New Jersey on January 6th.