How Canucks captain Hughes stacks up to Makar in Norris Trophy race
Vancouver Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes is having an unbelievable season. The American-born player has 79 points in 69 games and has firmly established himself as one of the league’s best players.
While Hughes hasn’t always gotten the respect he deserves from national media, his play this year has made him impossible to ignore. He’s one of two main candidates to win the Norris Trophy, alongside Colorado Avalanche superstar Cale Makar.
Here is how the two players stack up against each other so far this season.
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | CF% |
| Quinn Hughes | 69 | 13 | 66 | 79 | +37 | 56.89% |
| Cale Makar | 64 | 17 | 58 | 75 | +13 | 52.91% |
The two defencemen have very similar counting stats but Hughes has a slight edge in points, the more traditional plus-minus, as well as Corsi. They rank first and second in points by blueliners across the NHL.
One area where Makar has not been his usual all-world self this year is driving play forward. You can see that reflected in the CF% of each player as Makar is a few percentage points below Hughes. In addition, Hughes ranks first among all Canucks in many possession metrics while Makar is behind teammates like Devon Toews and Samuel Girard.
This is why you won’t find Makar on the ballots of more analytics-focused voters. Check out the Norris Trophy power rankings made byĀ The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn, which did not feature Makar in the top 10 as of mid-March.
New update on the Norris Trophy list
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The Avalanche have outscored their opponents 60-53 while Makar is on the ice at 5-on-5. This is a solid yet unspectacular mark for a player of his calibre. Toews, Josh Manson, and Erik Johnson all have better ratios on the Avalanche.
Hughes is the driving force behind the Canucks’ success. Not only does he lead the team in possession metrics like Corsi, but there’s also a remarkable improvement in J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson’s numbers when they play with Hughes on the ice.
Makar has won the Norris Trophy once before, after scoring 86 points in 76 games during the 2021-22 season. While he’s still among the league’s ā and this generation’s ā top defencemen, this has not been his best season.
The Canucks captain has more points, better advanced numbers, and has played every game so far this season. No matter the metric you choose, it’s hard to find one that favours Makar.
Hughes has dominated this season and deserves his first Norris victory. These two players will surely be contending for this award many more times in the coming years, but this season, there is a clear leader.
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