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Paper Feature: Quinn Hughes could still be the best part of the 2018-19 season

Canucks’ 7th overall pick in 2018 won’t be on the Canucks, but could thrill in college hockey.
Quinn Hughes takes a shot at the 2018 World Junior Summer Showcase.

The Paper Feature is a weekly column and sidebars that appears in the print edition of the Vancouver Courier newspaper. Track it down!


The Canucks’ hopes for the blue line rest on the shoulders of Quinn Hughes, the team’s seventh overall pick in the 2018 draft. He won’t be playing for the Canucks next season, however, as he’ll be heading back to the NCAA to play one more year for the University of Michigan.

It’s a decision Hughes didn’t make lightly, but it was the right call for both himself and the Canucks. First of all, Hughes has unfinished business in the NCAA.

“I want to win the national championship,” said Hughes, “I was heartbroken when we lost to Notre Dame in the Frozen Four last year.”

A return to college gives Hughes the chance to develop in an ideal environment as a 19-year-old, playing big minutes in all situations. He’ll be the go-to guy for the Wolverines, rather than being eased into professional hockey in a sheltered role with either the Canucks or the Utica Comets in the AHL.

It’s also what’s best for the Canucks, even if not having Hughes in the lineup might hurt their ticket sales. The Canucks are not close enough to being a playoff team to justify rushing a draft pick to the NHL to help right away. With Alex Edler, Michael Del Zotto, Ben Hutton, and Derrick Pouliot all with just one year left on their contracts, the 2019-20 season will give the Canucks a better opportunity to shape their defence for the future.

What may not be immediately clear is that this is what’s best for Canucks fans as well.

Certainly, Canucks fans are eager to see the flashy blue-chip blue-liner suit up in the blue, green, and white. Fans showed up to the Canucks’ prospect camp practices and the summer showdown at Rogers Arena just to catch a glimpse of Hughes, so you can bet they’d love to see him in the lineup during the season.

Sometimes, what you really need is the anticipation. For an example, just look at last season.

One of the most exciting parts about the 2017-18 Canucks season had nothing to do with the Canucks themselves. It didn’t even take place in North America, but across the Atlantic Ocean in Sweden.

Elias Pettersson’s dominant performance in the Swedish Hockey League was a source of joy for Canucks fans in the midst of a mostly disappointing NHL season. There were certainly enjoyable aspects to the 2017-18 season, such as Brock Boeser’s outstanding rookie year and a near-perfect farewell to the Sedins, but the team’s overall struggles made it a tough season to watch at times.

Fortunately, there were near constant highlights and astounding updates from Pettersson’s record-breaking season in the SHL. As he surpassed the Sedins, Peter Forsberg, and Kent Nilsson in points from an under-20 player in Sweden, it gave Canucks fans hope for the future in the midst of a pretty miserable present.

The same could be true of Hughes and the 2018-19 season.

Hughes is unlikely to replicate Pettersson’s SHL performance and surpass the NCAA record for points from an under-20 defenceman, a record held by longtime NHL coach Ron Wilson with 87 points in 27 games back when the NCAA wasn’t as strong a league as it is now. He does, however, have a shot at being the best player in college hockey and a potential Hobey Baker winner.

If Hughes had played in the NHL this season, he would have been exciting, but that excitement would have been tempered by the normal struggles of a 19-year-old rookie adapting to the best league in the world. Watching him from afar, Canucks fans will get to see the highlight-reel moves Hughes is known for and, hopefully, some jaw-dropping numbers that will get fans even more excited to see him in a Canucks jersey in the future.

Big Numbers

3.22 - Ron Wilson’s NCAA record 87 points from an under-20 defenceman is truly astounding. No one else even comes close to his 3.22 points per game; the next best is under two points per game.

40 - The best NCAA season from an under-20 defenceman since 1990 is more within reach for Hughes: Adam Fox had 40 points in the 2016-17 season for Harvard. That would mean 11 more points for Hughes than he scored last season, but that’s very doable for the fleet-footed blueliner.

Stick-taps and Glove-drops

I’m dropping the gloves with the Canucks for their overly draconian approach to protecting their trademark. A team of four pre-teen lacrosse players were set to wear customized jerseys with a version of the Johnny Canuck logo holding a lacrosse stick instead of a hockey stick. That wouldn't fly for the Canucks and the closest thing to a compromise they could offer was letting the team wear the jerseys, then hand them over to be destroyed, which seems a bit over-the-top.