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JPat: It’s hard to watch Quinn Hughes struggle as Canucks continue to sink in NHL standings
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Photo credit: © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Dec 3, 2025, 16:46 EST
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It wasn’t that long ago that Quinn Hughes racked up 10 assists over a three-game span. However, that now feels like a lifetime ago. In the six games since Hughes found a way to add his name to yet another very short list with the likes of Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey, the Vancouver Canucks captain seems to have hit a wall.
After collecting three assists against the Winnipeg Jets on November 11th, four helpers on November 16th vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning and setting up three more goals a day later in South Florida against the Panthers, Hughes gave every indication that he had rediscovered his superpowers and was serving notice to the league that he was back in the discussion for a second Norris Trophy in three seasons.
But something strange has happened since Hughes’ monster three-game run. His offence has evaporated, his body language has become a nightly talking point, and his hockey club has just one win in the past two weeks.
Hughes has just one goal and one assist in his last six outings. The goal came on a power play late in a dispiriting home loss to the Calgary Flames on November 23rd. The assist – a secondary helper – came on a Max Sasson goal vs. the Anaheim Ducks at the start of the team’s recently completed road trip. Hughes now finds himself on his first three-game point drought of the season. He’s a huge part of a power play that has gone 0 for 12 in the past three outings. 
He’s been asked to shoulder an enormous load, averaging a league-high 28:36 of ice time over the past six games. Twice in that span, he’s logged over 30 minutes, including a season-high 30:13 on the back end of back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Kings over the weekend. 
Through all of that, Hughes has helped the Canucks control 56.5% of all shots at 5-on-5 during his downswing. The Canucks have outshot opponents by five and outchanced them by 10. But the team has been outscored 5-4 in his 120 minutes of ice time. He has 15 shots over his last six games, although most have appeared to be lofted toward the net, hoping for screens and deflections rather than a case of Hughes shooting to score.
The team’s finishers have gone ice-cold around Hughes, and all those slumps probably go hand in hand. After a 3-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, Kiefer Sherwood has gone seven without scoring. Jake DeBrusk has gone six without a goal. Brock Boeser has just one in his last nine. Is Hughes not doing enough to set up those teammates, or are they failing Hughes by not converting on their chances? The truth likely lies somewhere in between.
But now, frustration seems to be seeping into the on-ice product and more frequently into Hughes’ performance. And to some degree, that’s understandable. In a season that was supposed to be all about proving to the team’s most valuable player that this organization could build a winner around him, the Canucks have two victories in their last 11 games and have sunk to 30th in the overall standings – just a single point ahead of both Calgary and the Nashville Predators. After the Predators’ 5-1 win over the Flames last night, the Canucks are now tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the fewest regulation victories this season (6).
But as the captain and the team’s best player, Quinn Hughes has to be held to higher standards than his teammates. He has to hustle for every puck. He has to lead by example. He doesn’t get to take a single shift off. That’s just the way it is. Not every night is going to go his way. And very clearly, not every night is going to yield the result he and his hockey club want. But through almost all of his career, Quinn Hughes has been the one guy the Canucks could count on. The one they could look to spark the team and know that good things would almost always happen when he hopped over the boards.
That’s not the case right now. Maybe it’s just a blip, and perhaps it will correct itself just as quickly as it started. 
But given the state of the franchise and with trade winds swirling around many of his teammates and his own future front and centre, Quinn Hughes just doesn’t seem himself. Normally unflappable, Hughes appears rattled at the moment. Maybe for the first time wearing Canucks colours. 
And maybe, just maybe, he’s finally cracked under the enormous burden of trying to prop up a hockey club with flaws throughout its roster – ones so significant that even the brilliance of Quinn Hughes is finally no longer able to mask.

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