Canucks' Quinn Hughes and brother Jack could make NHL sibling history

Vancouver Canucks fans are used to witnessing brothers dominate in the NHL.

Of course this time, it’s a bit different.

Quinn Hughes, the newly minted captain of the Canucks, has been one of the best defencemen in the NHL to start the season. He’s shooting the puck more, he’s averaging almost 25 minutes per night, and he’s currently tied for first in points among NHL defencemen.

Not many players have been more dominant than Quinn Hughes to start the season. One player who has though, is his younger brother, Jack Hughes.

The NHL has witnessed a few sets of dominant brothers throughout its 100+ year history.

However, only one other brother duo has ever collected major NHL awards in the same year. The Hughes brothers could be the first involving skaters (ie. non-goalies) to do it.

Hughes brothers on pace for historic season

One month into the season, Jack Hughes currently leads the NHL with 18 points in eight games. He’s the only player preventing Canucks’ phenom Elias Pettersson from leading the league in points.

Jack Hughes, Elias Pettersson and David Pastrnak have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the month of October.#NHLStats: https://t.co/e29Rnyff0I pic.twitter.com/AZSfITC72y

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 1, 2023

Hughes is on an unreal pace right now. With 2.25 points-per-game this season, the middle Hughes is on pace for 184 points.

While that gaudy total is an unrealistic target, Hughes does have 76 points in his last 50 NHL games. That’s an 124-point pace, which seems like a realistic barometer for the 22-year-old.

It’s early, but obviously Hughes is the frontrunner for the Art Ross Trophy right now, which is awarded to the player with the most points at the end of each season.

You could also argue that right now, Jack is the front-runner for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the regular season MVP of the league.

That Jack Hughes pass to Timo Meier🔥 pic.twitter.com/9Gc2k5aCfO

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) October 26, 2023

While Quinn might not be in the Art Ross or Hart Trophy conversation, he’s certainly in the running for the Norris.

Despite some media outlets wanting to convince you that Quinn Hughes isn’t a top-10 NHL defenceman, he’s easily been one of the three best defencemen in the league this season.

Hughes is tied for first among NHL defencemen with Cale Makar and Adam Fox with 11 points in nine games. He also has sparkling defensive metrics despite playing against the team’s best players every night.

“I feel a lot more dangerous than I have in the past,” Hughes told reporters after the Canucks defeated the St. Louis Blues last week.

So far, Hughes is firmly a candidate for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the best NHL defenceman each season.

Based on the current trajectories of Quinn and Jack, there could be a lot of hardware added to the Hughes household in 2024.

How they compare to best seasons by NHL brothers

There have been a number of noteworthy brothers who have played in the NHL over the years. Maurice and Henri Richard, Pete and Frank Mahavolich, Bobby and Dennis Hull, all come to mind.

Here’s the thing with most of the noteworthy brothers throughout NHL history: they weren’t all threatening to bring home individual trophies at the same time.

Really, there are only two sets of brothers who either won individual trophies together, or at least threatened to both bring home trophies.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin

The Sedin twins were at the peak of their powers with the Canucks during a two-year stretch between 2009 and 2011.

During the 2009-10 season, Henrik Sedin took home both the Art Ross and Hart Trophies. If it weren’t for an injury to Daniel Sedin, he would have been right there with him.

In 2010-11, it was Daniel’s turn to take home some hardware. While he was snubbed for the Hart Trophy, he did win the Art Ross and the Ted Lindsay, which is the league’s MVP as voted by the players.

During that same season, Henrik did enter the Hart Trophy conversation, and finished 10th overall in MVP voting.

Phil and Tony Esposito

What Phil and Tony Esposito accomplished is probably the most direct comparable to Quinn and Jack Hughes.

Playing on different teams, Phil and Tony both managed to bring home hardware at the same time, and they were both two of the league’s best players for most of the 1970s.

Phil won the Art Ross Trophy for five of six NHL seasons between 1968 and 1974. During that time, he also won two Hart Trophies and the Ted Lindsay award.

During the same time span, Tony won the Calder (in 1969), won the Vezina Trophy for goaltender of the year three times, and finished top-10 in Hart Trophy voting in each of his first five NHL seasons.

Quinn and Jack might not recreate that dominance, however the Espositos accomplished this during a time when there were only 12-16 teams in the NHL.

Don’t forget about Luke

Quinn and Jack aren’t the only Hughes boys who could be bringing home hardware this NHL season.

The youngest brother, Luke Hughes, is playing in his first full NHL season after skating in five combined regular season and playoff games last season.

So far, the 20-year-old defenceman has six points in eight games, while skating nearly 20 minutes per night.

Right now, he in the conversation for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s best rookie each season.

It’s seemingly a pretty stacked year for NHL rookies, headlined by Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard and Arizona Coyotes centre, Logan Cooley. However, Hughes is only one point off of the rookie scoring lead (7 points) and has looked impressive, much like a taller version of Quinn, early in his NHL career.

What Quinn and Jack could accomplish as a set of brother on their own is pretty rare. Add Luke into the mix, and we very well could be beginning to witness the most dominant trio of brothers in NHL history.