With the season about a quarter of the way through already, Frank Seravalli and Colby Cohen talked about some possible Hart Trophy candidates, with Cohen going a bit off the board with his selection, although it’s still a well-deserving one.
Colby Cohen: Well I got a Hughes, but I don’t have Jack Hughes. I’ve got Quinn Hughes, and what he has done from the back end in Vancouver to me has just stood out. He has been a star this year. He’s got 30 points, he’s tied his career-high for eight goals.
I’ll give a little bit of credit to Adam Foote, who has come in there and become one of the defense coaches in Vancouver, and I think has really taught this guy how to be more efficient on the ice. His skill is off the chart, but I played with Foote, and I got to be around Foote, and he’s all about being efficient out on the ice. So let’s give a little bit of credit to him and Rick Tocchet and what they’ve done and how he’s propelled the Canucks.
Frank Seravalli: So Quinn Hughes, just an FYI, isn’t on the board. Betano doesn’t have him there, but I was saying, Quinn Hughes is one of the perfect picks for the early season Hart. He’s only the third player in NHL history as a defenseman to have 30 points in the first 17 games of the year.
By the way, Cale Makar can get there and became the fourth, he’s been insane to start the year.
Colby Cohen: Everyone’s talking about Jack Hughes, he’s going to have 150 points this year, he’s going to be a Hart Trophy winner. Then all of a sudden Luke Hughes joins the picture, and all we keep hearing is “this might be the best of the three, he’s bigger, he skates better, he might have more talent”. Well, I think Quinn Hughes, the oldest of the three is sitting in Vancouver and thinking to himself “I’ve been doing this the longest, I’ve been in this league a good amount longer than my brothers, and let’s not forget about me out here in Vancouver. I know our team’s not bad, but Elias Pettersson, Thatcher Demko and I are going to throw them on our backs and we’re going to get this team going. We’re going to get this city back into hockey again”.
I think a little bit of sibling rivalry, and a little bit of that motivation that you get from your brothers in the summer, probably kicking each other’s ass in the weight room and on the ice, to me I think that that matters. I really do. I think these guys are ultra competitive, they’re each other’s biggest fans, but I also believe that they push each other.
So I think that little bit of a fire under his ass, and you saw Roman Josi start a season like this a couple of years ago, and then he goes off for 96 points, but when you’re feeling it, you’re feeling it, it doesn’t look like it’s going away any time soon. He had another couple points last night, he’s a +16, 14 of his 30 points on the power play, which means he’s also getting it done even strength, only one power play goal, seven even strength goals, so let’s not sit here and say “power play specialist”.
For me, it’s Quinn Hughes, I’m going to be watching him for the rest of this season.
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