Consider me, I seemed for any and all causes to ship Vancouver followers into one more tizzy, which is the very definition of taking pictures fish in a barrel and but, oh, so enjoyable (a pastime of mine for happening 16 years now). Nevertheless it’s actually laborious to get previous Hughes. Not solely does he lead all d-men in scoring, however he’s additionally change into one thing of a shutdown nook on the opposite finish of the ice as groups aren’t even bothering to attempt to enter the Canucks zone on his facet.
If there’s a knock on Hughes it’s that his possession metrics aren’t that glittering. However with a push he may get greater than 100 factors from the blue line. It’s a strong case.
Different finalists: Cale Makar, Aaron Ekblad
Makar will probably be on this listing till he decides to retire and so they rename the award after him. Ekblad is the outside-the-box-to-prove-how-clever-I-am selection, although he missed the beginning of the season. Whereas his level whole isn’t close to sufficient to get him any consideration, he pushes the play for the perfect staff within the league proper now whereas beginning a majority of his shifts outdoors the offensive zone. There isn’t a extra helpful talent in hockey than a d-man who can flip the play in favor of his staff, and Ekblad does it higher than anybody.
