An NHL GM didn't rank Canucks' Hughes as top-10 defenceman
What does Vancouver Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes have to do to earn some respect?
The 24-year-old leads all defencemen and is tied for ninth among all players in points, has been the driver behind the NHL’s best team, and changes the momentum of every game. You could make a logical argument that he should be a Hart Trophy finalist.
Despite all of that, there’s still an NHL general manager who doesn’t think Hughes is a top-10 NHL defenceman.
ESPN released its updated position rankings, which surveyed players and executives from around the league. Each respondent was asked to list the 10 best players at each position.
Hughes finished second among all defencemen, a big jump from last season when he didn’t appear on any ballots at all. However, one respondent, who was revealed to be a general manager, left him off their list completely.
“Last season, Hughes didn’t appear in the top 10 among defencemen on any of our 20 ballots,” wrote ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. “This season, he received 146 points and appeared on 19 of 20 ballots — although one NHL general manager left him off theirs completely.”
It’s shocking that such a high-ranking executive could have such a blind spot in talent evaluation.
Hughes finished 51 points behind Cale Makar for first place. He was 27 points ahead of Miro Heiskanen, who finished third.
Hughes has struggled to get his flowers from around the league this season. Canucks fans exploded afterĀ The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn placed the American-born player in “Tier 3B” among defencemen before the year started. Some of the other players that were in that same tier include Shea Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo, and Dougie Hamilton.
It turns out that Canucks fans were right to disagree, as Hughes’ strong play forced Luszczyszyn to admit he was wrong just a few months later.
i was definitely wrong about quinn hughes lol
ā dom š (@domluszczyszyn) January 13, 2024
If Hughes continues to score at his current pace and helps lead the Canucks on a playoff run, it’s only a matter of time until the holdout NHL general manager is saying the same thing.