LAS VEGAS – Quinn Hughes was 12 years old and playing for the Toronto Marlboros of the Greater Toronto Hockey League when coach Rich McLeod approached him about switching from forward to defense.
He said yes. And the rest is history.
In fact, just 12 years later, the Vancouver Canucks captain made history by winning the James Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenceman. And as he took the stage during the 2024 NHL Awards at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the 24-year-old reflected on the incredible journey he’s taken to get here.
“At that point we were missing a player on defense,” Hughes recalled. “I went back there and fell in love with it.”
He mentioned that his father, Jim, had grown up as a defenseman, which made his own position switch all the more desirable. And now, here he was on Thursday, having officially beaten out the Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar and the Nashville Predators’ Roman Josi, immediately hugging Jim, his mom Ellen and brothers Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes, teammates on the New Jersey Devils.
“It’s surreal and it probably hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said. “It was a great season for me and our team. We made a lot of steps forward individually and as a group, so I’m really proud of the year.”
He should be.
In his first season as captain of the Canucks, Hughes led all defensemen in points with 92 (17 goals, 75 assists) and major assists with 17. He had nine games with at least three assists, something only two others at the position They have done it in a single season: Bobby Orr (four times) and Ray Bourque (1993-94).
Despite everything, he admitted how much he has matured on and off the ice since he was named captain number 15 in Canucks history on September 11, 2023.
“Honestly, I can’t speak highly enough about my growth, even if you go back to the last 18 months,” Hughes said. “I mean, we were losing at the time and it was really hard to see all these other teams having success when we weren’t.
“It forced me and a lot of guys on the team to reevaluate what we wanted to do and what kind of team or organization we wanted to be. I think we did a great job in that regard, for sure. And now we’re going to continue to take another step because I feel like we can compete in the years to come.”
Hughes gave some of the credit for the team’s turnaround to coach Rick Tocchet, who was named the Jack Adams Trophy winner as the NHL’s top coach on May 22. Since being hired on Jan. 22, 2023, he has led the Canucks to a 70-35-13 regular-season record.
This season alone, Vancouver went 50-23-9, won the Pacific Division and reached the Second Round of the Western Conference before losing to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. The pain of that loss, Hughes said, still hurts, but he and his teammates have learned from it.
“I’m not going to win the Norris every year. There are too many good defenders,” he said. “But I think if I can get in there and have a year like I had this year, that would show the consistency that I think I have.
“Now that we’re in the playoffs and we have that momentum, I think there’s room for growth, for sure. I’d say that’s the next step.”
James Norris Memorial Trophy Voting 2023-24
Points (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1. Quinn Hughes, van 1864 (172-17-5-0-0)
2. Josi Romano, NSH 1207 (12-108-61-8-2)
3. Cale Makar, COL 893 (9-61-59-21-18)
4. Adam Fox, New York 229 (1-1-14-38-28)
5. Evan Bouchard, EDM 212 (0-1-19-29-23)
6. Victor Hedman, TBL 201 (0-4-6-42-17)
7. Josh Morrissey, WPG 166 (0-0-19-16-23)
8. Noah Dobson, JNI 95 (0-0-2-18-31)
9. Gustav Forsling, FLA 85 (0-1-6-10-18)
10. Miró Heiskanen, DAL 43 (0-1-3-3-12)
11. Drew Doughty, LAK 18 (0-0-0-4-6)
12. Mattías Ekholm, EDM 15 (0-0-0-2-9)
13. Charlie McAvoy, BOS 7 (0-0-0-2-1)
14. Jacob Slavin, CAR 6 (0-0-0-1-3)
15. Rasmus Dahlin, BUF 3 (0-0-0-0-3)
* Point allocation 10-7-5-3-1 (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
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