Newsflash: Playing Quinn Hughes nearly 30 minutes a night isn’t working. And as the Vancouver Canucks lurch to the finish line of this highly disappointing 2024-25 National Hockey League season, it’s time for the hockey club to abandon this misguided notion that playing the wheels off its captain is in his best interest – or that of the organization.
Hughes gives the Canucks everything he’s got. And he remains their best chance to drive offence and win hockey games almost every night out. But he’s also human. And between the injuries that have kept him out of 14 games since Christmas – and also prevented him from representing his country in the 4 Nations Face-Off – it became apparent on this six-game road trip that Hughes, alone, can’t get the Canucks where they need to go.
The last three games of the trip – against the New York Islanders and in Columbus and Winnipeg – may have been the three most ordinary games in an extraordinary season for the reigning Norris Trophy winner. He has set the bar so high in this market that it’s readily apparent when he’s not at the apex of his powers.
It was obvious to anyone who watched those games that he is simply running on fumes. And to what end? Hughes led the Canucks in ice time on the road trip averaging 28:19 over the six games. Included in that stretch was a career-high 31:38 in New Jersey last Monday and a 30:38 night in St. Louis to start the trip.
Prior to the 4 Nations break, Hughes averaged 25:18 of ice per night. In 13 games since then, he’s been asked to play 26:32 each night – and four of those 13 games are among the 15 highest individual ice times in a league of more than 700 skaters.
Hughes has looked exhausted lately, and that surely has played into a power play that managed to score in just one of the six games on the trip at a point in the season and in tight games almost every night out where every goal matters. On Sunday against the Jets, the Canucks went 0 for 3 with the man-advantage and had a chance to extend their lead to 2-0 early in the second period or regain the lead at 2-1 later in that middle frame. Instead, the power play fizzled as it did for most of the road trip.
Again, this isn’t any kind of knock on Quinn Hughes, who’s doing what he can to drive this team forward. But it is an indictment on his usage and an assertion that despite his greatness, he has reached his limits under trying circumstances.
The biggest issue through all of this is that the Canucks have overhauled their blueline in season. They got Filip Hronek back from a six-week injury in mid-January and added Marcus Pettersson a few weeks later. They also propped up the defensive group with promising rookies Elias Pettersson and Victor Mancini. There is no question now that the group of defenders the Canucks are running with now is night and day better than the skaters they iced in October. Earlier in the season, it was understandable that much was asked of Hughes. But with a healthy Hronek and adding Pettersson from Pittsburgh, the Canucks bolstered the top of their defence corps – and somehow Hughes’ workload has increased.
Aside from Noah Juulsen, the Canucks defence is completely healthy and has been for weeks now. And these are the pieces this team will move forward with. So, even with insulation for Hughes, the team has chosen to run him out there for half the game almost every night for the past few weeks.
Since February 22nd, the Canucks have been outscored 21-14 at even-strength with Hughes on the ice and 14-10 at 5-on-5. Those aren’t the types of numbers usually associated with Hughes when healthy and at the top of his game. But it looks and feels like the workload has caught up to him. And understandably so.
And now with eight games remaining and the team’s playoff hopes all but vanished, the Canucks need to ease up on their demands on Hughes. Leave him home from next week’s road trip to Dallas and Denver. Put an internal cap on his ice time, and make sure he doesn’t reach 25 minutes in another game the rest of the way. And certainly do not do what the team did in Columbus on Friday and ask Hughes to play 4:10 of 3-on-3 overtime.
Everything the Canucks do from this point forward should be done with an eye to the future. And that includes a big picture vision of how to maximize the greatness of Quinn Hughes. Asking him to play 30 minutes a night hasn’t led the Canucks to the playoffs. So, the solution seems pretty clear for all to see: build a better team around him so that he doesn’t have to play half of every game.
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