Why Quinn Hughes Still Deserves the Norris Trophy
For the second consecutive year, Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes has been named a finalist for the James Norris Memorial Trophy. But can he capture the award again?
While it may seem unlikely given that fellow nominees Cale Makar and Zach Werenski outscored Hughes and appeared in more games, raw stats alone don’t paint the full picture.
Hughes posted 76 points in just 68 games, putting him on pace for 92 points over a full 82-game season—matching Makar’s offensive output. Makar does have the historical edge as the first defenseman in 16 years to score 30 goals, but context matters.
Makar benefited from a stacked Colorado Avalanche lineup that included stars like Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen (before being traded), Devon Toews, Martin Necas, and Valeri Nichushkin. Werenski also played alongside rising young talent such as Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov, Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, and Kent Johnson.
Hughes, on the other hand, had far less support. J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson underperformed, with Miller eventually traded to New York. By season’s end, Hughes was the only Canucks player to surpass 50 points, and no one on the roster scored 30 goals.
Meanwhile, Marchenko and Fantilli each tallied 31 goals, and Marchenko notched 74 points. MacKinnon and Rantanen continued to dominate, while Necas quietly delivered an 83-point campaign.
Despite this imbalance in surrounding talent, Hughes once again carried the Canucks. His performance was pivotal—without him, Vancouver likely would have ended up in the draft lottery. Unlike Makar and Werenski, who had dependable replacements like Toews and Ivan Provorov, Hughes had to shoulder the load without a safety net. Filip Hronek, his closest counterpart, has just 10 goals over two seasons and has never reached 50 points.
Given all this, Hughes didn’t just thrive—he excelled with far fewer resources. That makes a strong case for him to reclaim the Norris Trophy this season.
