Quinn Hughes was the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Canucks</a>’ most valuable player last season. In other news, the sky is blue, water is wet, and Christopher Nolan’s movies insist upon themselves.
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What more can be said about Quinn Hughes that hasn’t already been said in a thousand ways in a thousand stories? He&#8217;s the heart and soul of the Vancouver Canucks, carrying the team to relevance At 25 years old, he’s only getting better every passing season, both as a hockey player and as a leader.
We’ll start with the hockey side of things. 
Hughes had big shoes to fill in 2024-25; his own, <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-quinn-hughes-finishes-zach-werenski-cale-makar-2024-25-norris-trophy">after a Norris Trophy-winning campaign the season before</a>. And from the get-go in October, he picked up right where he left off. Hughes&#8217; 76 points in 68 games were good enough to tie the second-best total of his career, and tie Alex Edler for the franchise record in points by a defenceman; he&#8217;s reached 409 points in 492 less games played.
Hughes&#8217; 16 goals put him on pace to break his personal best, 17 in 2023-24. Whether it was born out of confidence or team necessity, Hughes&#8217; willingness to call his own number has grown year over year.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Quinn Hughes. He&#39;s pretty good! 3-0 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> <a href="https://t.co/Fi9ey1JvYN">pic.twitter.com/Fi9ey1JvYN</a>
&mdash; Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) <a href="https://twitter.com/LachInTheCrease/status/1880824346371088871?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Rick Tocchet was always going to lean on Hughes as much as humanly possible and then some.  So it wasn&#8217;t a surprise when Hughes averaged 25 minutes a night, and even cracked over half a game six times. Five of Hughes&#8217; performances made HockeyStatCards top 10 list of Canucks single game efforts, and his net rating of 14.7 was the ninth best in the league among defencemen. But even with that heavy workload, Hughes has been finding new ways to make defenders look silly.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Quinn Hughes heard someone suggest the best NHL defenceman played for Colorado and shut that down real quick. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> <a href="https://t.co/mARG4ilGUg">pic.twitter.com/mARG4ilGUg</a>
&mdash; Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) <a href="https://twitter.com/LachInTheCrease/status/1854760868472668177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The only thing that could stop Hughes from repeating as the league’s top defenceman was the injury bug, which finally caught up with him. Three separate injuries took him out of commission for 14 games during the season, and the Canucks undoubtedly missed him in those games. Even when he was playing at less than 100 percent in late March and April, he was carrying the offense on his back.
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At least Quinn Hughes is still here. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> <a href="https://t.co/uRM4VXSiw8">pic.twitter.com/uRM4VXSiw8</a>
&mdash; Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) <a href="https://twitter.com/LachInTheCrease/status/1904322516799393851?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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If he&#8217;d been healthy for the entire season, it&#8217;s hard to imagine <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-quinn-hughes-finishes-zach-werenski-cale-makar-2024-25-norris-trophy">Hughes would&#8217;ve only finished third for the Norris</a>. At the pace he was going on the scoresheet, he might&#8217;ve even challenged Connor Hellebuyck for the Hart Trophy as league MVP. Alas, that&#8217;s a dream for next season.
In the leadership department, Hughes had his hands full all year. The rift between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson forced him into a peacemaker role until Canucks management traded Miller to New York late in the year. That’s a lot for a young leader to handle, but he responded very well in the public eye.
“Everybody knows what the reports are out there, but I think that everyone expects a lot from each other. There’s times I get upset with Millsy; there’s times I get upset with Petey; there’s times I get upset with Hronek. That doesn’t mean I don’t love those guys and vice versa,” Hughes said about the situation in December. 
“As far as my leadership, I think continuing to keep everyone on the yellow brick road and what our ultimate goal is, which is short term, having a good game tonight and long-term, being a successful team and making it to the playoffs.”
Captain Quinn often put the team&#8217;s goals ahead of his own. Hughes could&#8217;ve played through a wrist injury for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, but he elected to rest up instead, a decision he didn&#8217;t take lightly. The sacrifices he&#8217;s made for the Canucks are plenty, and the team has two years to return the favour with a winning lineup around him.
Hughes has just two years left on a contract that will make him an unrestricted free agent in 2027, and in his eyes, 2024-25 will look like a missed opportunity. Quinn is only going to get better in the next two years. Making sure he doesn&#8217;t waste prime seasons like this will be at the forefront of his and the team&#8217;s mind this offseason and into the future.
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Quinn Hughes was the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Canucks</a>’ most valuable player last season. In other news, the sky is blue, water is wet, and Christopher Nolan’s movies insist upon themselves.
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What more can be said about Quinn Hughes that hasn’t already been said in a thousand ways in a thousand stories? He's the heart and soul of the Vancouver Canucks, carrying the team to relevance At 25 years old, he’s only getting better every passing season, both as a hockey player and as a leader.

We’ll start with the hockey side of things. 

Hughes had big shoes to fill in 2024-25; his own, <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-quinn-hughes-finishes-zach-werenski-cale-makar-2024-25-norris-trophy">after a Norris Trophy-winning campaign the season before</a>. And from the get-go in October, he picked up right where he left off. Hughes' 76 points in 68 games were good enough to tie the second-best total of his career, and tie Alex Edler for the franchise record in points by a defenceman; he's reached 409 points in 492 less games played.

Hughes' 16 goals put him on pace to break his personal best, 17 in 2023-24. Whether it was born out of confidence or team necessity, Hughes' willingness to call his own number has grown year over year.

https://twitter.com/LachInTheCrease/status/1880824346371088871

Rick Tocchet was always going to lean on Hughes as much as humanly possible and then some.  So it wasn't a surprise when Hughes averaged 25 minutes a night, and even cracked over half a game six times. Five of Hughes' performances made HockeyStatCards top 10 list of Canucks single game efforts, and his net rating of 14.7 was the ninth best in the league among defencemen. But even with that heavy workload, Hughes has been finding new ways to make defenders look silly.

https://twitter.com/LachInTheCrease/status/1854760868472668177

The only thing that could stop Hughes from repeating as the league’s top defenceman was the injury bug, which finally caught up with him. Three separate injuries took him out of commission for 14 games during the season, and the Canucks undoubtedly missed him in those games. Even when he was playing at less than 100 percent in late March and April, he was carrying the offense on his back.

https://twitter.com/LachInTheCrease/status/1904322516799393851

If he'd been healthy for the entire season, it's hard to imagine <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-quinn-hughes-finishes-zach-werenski-cale-makar-2024-25-norris-trophy">Hughes would've only finished third for the Norris</a>. At the pace he was going on the scoresheet, he might've even challenged Connor Hellebuyck for the Hart Trophy as league MVP. Alas, that's a dream for next season.

In the leadership department, Hughes had his hands full all year. The rift between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson forced him into a peacemaker role until Canucks management traded Miller to New York late in the year. That’s a lot for a young leader to handle, but he responded very well in the public eye.

“Everybody knows what the reports are out there, but I think that everyone expects a lot from each other. There’s times I get upset with Millsy; there’s times I get upset with Petey; there’s times I get upset with Hronek. That doesn’t mean I don’t love those guys and vice versa,” Hughes said about the situation in December. 

“As far as my leadership, I think continuing to keep everyone on the yellow brick road and what our ultimate goal is, which is short term, having a good game tonight and long-term, being a successful team and making it to the playoffs.”

Captain Quinn often put the team's goals ahead of his own. Hughes could've played through a wrist injury for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, but he elected to rest up instead, a decision he didn't take lightly. The sacrifices he's made for the Canucks are plenty, and the team has two years to return the favour with a winning lineup around him.

Hughes has just two years left on a contract that will make him an unrestricted free agent in 2027, and in his eyes, 2024-25 will look like a missed opportunity. Quinn is only going to get better in the next two years. Making sure he doesn't waste prime seasons like this will be at the forefront of his and the team's mind this offseason and into the future.

Sponsored by bet365
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