Quinn Hughes’ bid for the Calder Trophy is gaining momentum, as the Vancouver Canucks’ 20-year-old phenom has been named NHL Rookie of the Month for February.
This is the first time that Hughes, who leads all first-year players in scoring with 51 points, has won the monthly honour. Hughes scored a league-high 15 points in 13 games in February, well ahead of Calder Trophy rival Cale Makar, who scored 10 points in 15 games.
Quinn Hughes leads all rookies in scoring (NHL.com)
Makar (0.84 P/GP), who has missed eight games due to injury, still has the edge over Hughes (0.81 P/GP) in points per game, but the Canucks defenceman has narrowed the gap. It was Makar who edged
Hughes is on pace to have one of the highest-scoring seasons ever from a rookie defenceman, which would put him alongside the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, and Ray Bourque.
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The Canucks rookie has had his name mentioned in the breath as Hall of Famers on a regular basis lately. On February 10, Hughes joined Bourque as the only rookie defencemen to post four three-assist games in a season. Then on February 25, Hughes joined Lidstrom as the only blueliners to be the first rookie to reach the 50-point mark in a season.
With 18 games left in the season, Hughes has already set the Canucks rookie record for assists with 43, breaking Dale Tallon’s 49-year-old record. Hughes is just five points back of Tallon’s rookie points record for a Canucks defenceman, and 15 points back of Elias Pettersson’s franchise points record (regardless of position) set last year.
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