Records, it is said, are made to be broken. And as Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s magical mark of 894 made its way through Vancouver on Saturday night, there is another goal-scoring chase that deserves some attention.
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On top of everything else he does better than any Vancouver Canuck these days, captain Quinn Hughes served notice with a pair of goals against the Washington Capitals that he now has Adrian Aucoin’s single-season record for goals by a Canucks defenceman clearly in his sights.
Hughes now has 14 goals through the team’s first 48 games. That puts him on pace for 24 on the season which would eclipse the 23 Aucoin scored in 1998-99 – just months before Hughes was born.
It’s the only 20-goal season by a defenceman in franchise history. Doug Halward scored 19 in 1982-83 while Rick Lanz netted 18 a year later. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Quinn Hughes notched his second multi-goal outing in four games and moved within one of tying Mattias Ohlund (7 GP) for the most multi-goal performances by a <a href="https://twitter.com/Canucks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Canucks</a> defenseman.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHLStats?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NHLStats</a>: <a href="https://t.co/CqAc4ymxIe">https://t.co/CqAc4ymxIe</a> <a href="https://t.co/sLKhFNQnQL">pic.twitter.com/sLKhFNQnQL</a>
&mdash; NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/1883391374407385170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Early in his career, Hughes had to listen to critics who suggested he didn’t score enough to be considered truly elite. He put that notion to rest with a career-best 17 last season en route to the Norris Trophy.
What makes this season so compelling is that Hughes is scoring at the greatest rate of his career – and he’s doing it with a damaged hand. His six goals in 10 games since Christmas lead all National Hockey League blueliners. And remember, he missed the first four games out of the holiday break. 
He’s just two goals off the league lead shared by Cale Makar and Zach Werenski, but has played six fewer games than both. Hughes and Werenski are tied for the league-lead among defenders with 11 even-strength goals. 
It’s also important to note that both Colorado and Colmubus possess top-10 offences in the NHL while the Canucks are 23rd in goals per game.
Year over year, Hughes has 20 goals in the last 82 regular season games he’s played. And with 14 goals on the season, the dazzling defender is just three off the team lead currently held by Jake DeBrusk who has been stuck on 17 goals for nine games now.
What’s fascinating in the comparison between Hughes and Aucoin is the way they scored their goals. The right-handed Aucoin possessed an absolute cannon from the point and feasted on the power play scoring 18 of his 23 goals in his record-setting season with the man-advantage. Meanwhile, as the Capitals discovered the hard way on Saturday, Hughes just continues to slice and dice opponents. His on-ice vision allows him to identify open space before anyone else sees it and then skate into those areas to create chances for himself. He’s dangerous from the left side, a menace from the right. Forehand, backhand it doesn’t seem to matter.  
While so many of his teammates are struggling these days, Hughes is heating up. He has scored five of the Canucks’ last 10 goals and in the team’s past two victories – on consecutive Saturdays over Edmonton and Washington – Hughes has notched four of the team’s five goals and both game winners.
Again, he’s doing all of this while wearing a protective apparatus on his left hand. It’s hard to imagine the heights he’d be playing at if fully healthy.
Hughes needs 10 goals over the team’s final 34 games to eclipse the mark Aucoin set a quarter-century ago. His last 10 goals have come in the past 24 games he’s played. So the target is well within his reach.
While it’s been abundantly clear for a few years now that Hughes was well on his way to most of the franchise’s individual records for defencemen, the goal scoring mark wasn’t something that was really on his radar much less within his reach. In fact, he had just three goals through 17 games this season before kicking his goal-scoring prowess into high gear.
And now he’s set himself up to take a run at the greatest goal scoring season by any Canucks defenceman ever. And even if he doesn’t catch Aucoin, he’s likely to get close and which will still leave Hughes with one of the best seasons in franchise history in that regard.
Just when you think you’ve seen everything Quinn Hughes has to offer, he continues to elevate and round out his game. Without a doubt he’s the greatest defenceman the organization has ever had. And now it seems, he’s intent on getting his hands on that goal-scoring record, too.
It seems like a fool’s game to bet against him at this stage. 
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Records, it is said, are made to be broken. And as Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s magical mark of 894 made its way through Vancouver on Saturday night, there is another goal-scoring chase that deserves some attention.
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On top of everything else he does better than any Vancouver Canuck these days, captain Quinn Hughes served notice with a pair of goals against the Washington Capitals that he now has Adrian Aucoin’s single-season record for goals by a Canucks defenceman clearly in his sights.

Hughes now has 14 goals through the team’s first 48 games. That puts him on pace for 24 on the season which would eclipse the 23 Aucoin scored in 1998-99 – just months before Hughes was born.

It’s the only 20-goal season by a defenceman in franchise history. Doug Halward scored 19 in 1982-83 while Rick Lanz netted 18 a year later. 

https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/1883391374407385170

Early in his career, Hughes had to listen to critics who suggested he didn’t score enough to be considered truly elite. He put that notion to rest with a career-best 17 last season en route to the Norris Trophy.

What makes this season so compelling is that Hughes is scoring at the greatest rate of his career – and he’s doing it with a damaged hand. His six goals in 10 games since Christmas lead all National Hockey League blueliners. And remember, he missed the first four games out of the holiday break. 

He’s just two goals off the league lead shared by Cale Makar and Zach Werenski, but has played six fewer games than both. Hughes and Werenski are tied for the league-lead among defenders with 11 even-strength goals. 

It’s also important to note that both Colorado and Colmubus possess top-10 offences in the NHL while the Canucks are 23rd in goals per game.

Year over year, Hughes has 20 goals in the last 82 regular season games he’s played. And with 14 goals on the season, the dazzling defender is just three off the team lead currently held by Jake DeBrusk who has been stuck on 17 goals for nine games now.

What’s fascinating in the comparison between Hughes and Aucoin is the way they scored their goals. The right-handed Aucoin possessed an absolute cannon from the point and feasted on the power play scoring 18 of his 23 goals in his record-setting season with the man-advantage. Meanwhile, as the Capitals discovered the hard way on Saturday, Hughes just continues to slice and dice opponents. His on-ice vision allows him to identify open space before anyone else sees it and then skate into those areas to create chances for himself. He’s dangerous from the left side, a menace from the right. Forehand, backhand it doesn’t seem to matter.  

While so many of his teammates are struggling these days, Hughes is heating up. He has scored five of the Canucks’ last 10 goals and in the team’s past two victories – on consecutive Saturdays over Edmonton and Washington – Hughes has notched four of the team’s five goals and both game winners.

Again, he’s doing all of this while wearing a protective apparatus on his left hand. It’s hard to imagine the heights he’d be playing at if fully healthy.

Hughes needs 10 goals over the team’s final 34 games to eclipse the mark Aucoin set a quarter-century ago. His last 10 goals have come in the past 24 games he’s played. So the target is well within his reach.

While it’s been abundantly clear for a few years now that Hughes was well on his way to most of the franchise’s individual records for defencemen, the goal scoring mark wasn’t something that was really on his radar much less within his reach. In fact, he had just three goals through 17 games this season before kicking his goal-scoring prowess into high gear.

And now he’s set himself up to take a run at the greatest goal scoring season by any Canucks defenceman ever. And even if he doesn’t catch Aucoin, he’s likely to get close and which will still leave Hughes with one of the best seasons in franchise history in that regard.

Just when you think you’ve seen everything Quinn Hughes has to offer, he continues to elevate and round out his game. Without a doubt he’s the greatest defenceman the organization has ever had. And now it seems, he’s intent on getting his hands on that goal-scoring record, too.

It seems like a fool’s game to bet against him at this stage. 

Sponsored by bet365
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Paterson’s Point: Forget 20, the question now is can Canucks captain Quinn Hughes score 25 this season?

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