Vancouver Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes has been named the second star of the week by the National Hockey League.
Here’s what the NHL wrote about the Canuck captain’s special week:
Hughes paced the NHL with eight assists and nine points in four games (1-8—9) to propel the Canucks (13-7-3, 29 points) to a 3-1-0 week. Hughes, who also shared the League lead with four helpers on the man-advantage, picked up an assist on the decisive power-play goal in a 2-0 triumph over the Boston Bruins Nov. 26. He followed that with 1-2—3, his second three-point outing of the season (also Nov. 5 at ANA: 0-3—3), in a 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Nov. 27. Hughes added a pair of helpers, including the primary assist on Conor Garland’s overtime winner, in a 4-3 victory against the Buffalo Sabres Nov. 29. He capped the week with 0-3—3, again assisting on the decisive overtime tally, in a 5-4 win versus the Detroit Red Wings Dec. 1 to surpass Alexander Edler for the most helpers by a defenseman in franchise history. The 25-year-old Hughes, the reigning James Norris Memorial Trophy winner, ranks second among NHL blueliners with 5-23—28 through 23 total contests this season. He also places among the top defensemen in power-play assists (t-1st; 11), assists (2nd; 23), power-play points (t-3rd; 11), shots on goal (5th; 77), average time on ice (9th; 24:52) and goals (t-9th; 5).
After winning the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenceman in 2023-24, Hughes has somehow taken his game to another level. He’s turned himself into an even more dangerous shooting threat and has managed to find ways to lift his team up on nights where he’s one of few players who has their A-game.
Hughes put on a clinic during overtime against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday, where he eventually set up Conor Garland for the game-winning goal after dancing around the Buffalo zone:
Hughes followed up that performance with a three-assist outing against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday when he surpassed Alex Edler for the Canucks’ franchise record for assists by a defenceman.
Hughes has been absolutely spectacular this season, and is a huge reason the Canucks find themselves just four points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for top spot in the Pacific Division entering December.
Vancouver-born forward and noted Canucks fan Macklin Celebrini was named the first star of the week, and Jakob Chychrun was named third star of the week.
