For the first time in the franchise’s 54-year history, the Vancouver Canucks have a Norris Trophy-winning defenceman.
Team captain Quinn Hughes won the award on Thursday, handed out annually to the NHL d-man “who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.”
The 24-year-old received 172 of the potential 194 first-place votes in the landslide victory over Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi and Colorado Avalanche superstar Cale Makar.
It was a phenomenal 2023-24 season for Hughes, who was named the 15th captain in Canucks history around a month before the regular season began.
He scored 17 goals and added 75 assists for 92 points in 82 games, and his underlying numbers backed up his case as one of the league’s premier blue liners.
Hughes was a significant factor in Vancouver’s improvement from 83 points in 2022-23 to a 50-win, 109-point season in 2023-24.
Under his leadership and stellar play, the Canucks won the Pacific Division and made it to the second round of the playoffs, where they lost in seven games to the Edmonton Oilers.
“The reality of winning an award like this is you can’t do it alone and you need really good players around you, and I certainly have that.”
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) June 28, 2024
Quinn Hughes accepts this year’s Norris Trophy, becoming the first member of the #Canucks to earn the honour. pic.twitter.com/3HQAej7trm
Hughes wasn’t the only Canuck to win a league award this year, as Rick Tocchet was revealed as the Jack Adams Trophy winner for the NHL’s best coach in May.
Thatcher Demko was also at the awards show in Las Vegas on Thursday, but the Canucks netminder finished runner up to Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck in the Vezina Trophy voting.
The biggest winner on Thursday night was Nathan MacKinnon, as the Avalanche star forward won both the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award.
Both are awarded to the league’s most valuable player, with the Hart being voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association and the Ted Lindsay being decided by the players.
With the awards now out of the way, attention turns to the NHL draft that will take place at the Sphere in Vegas over the next two days.
Round one will be tonight and rounds two through seven will follow on Saturday. The start of the league’s annual free agency period will begin on Monday.
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