Quinn hughes sophomore slump or nah?

[apollo18]

Nhl point projections have him in 2nd place with 49 points
Dobber has him 3rd place with 43 points

point projections are all wierd due to the 56 game season

so relatively do you think he can finish top 5 in d men scoring? or nah?

Click to read more...

 

[AvroArrow]

Not necessarily a slump, but I don't think he'll finish top 5 again this year. You gotta realize what this kid achieved was incredible, it's going to be verrrrry hard to replicate that.

 

[Agent Zub]

Makar
Hughes
Karlsson
Josi

are gonna be there imo, 4 of the most talented defenceman in the league

5th member could be any of Carlson, Hamilton, Hedman

 

[Smokey McCanucks]

He put a lot of things on tape last season that other teams will be able to look at and prepare for. You can only pull that button-hook thing he does so many times before somebody a foot and a half taller anticipates it and blasts you. I think he's got the smarts to keep pace with that sort of thing for the most part but I figure most of the "sophomore slump" thing comes from exposure to pro scouting and game prep at the highest level and for a guy who plays such a big part in his team's success you know he will be a big target for that stuff.

 

[canuckking1]

I wouldn't be surprised if he finishes 1st. It took until the 8th game of the season to put him on the first power-play unit, considering he was only 2 points behind Hedman for 3rd place. Had he started on the first unit, he could've been there. He was 2nd in points and PPG when the calendar flipped to 2020.

NHL Stats
NHL Stats

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

He was 4th in defence scoring as a rookie. No reason to believe he won’t be in the top-5 in his second season.

 

[Regal]

I don't think falling out of the top 5 means a sophomore slump. There's lots of good offensive defensemen out there. He was only 1 point up on Pietrangelo who was in 6th last year and he was 8th in PPG among defensemen. It did seem like his production at ES didn't match his play last year so I could see that improving, but at the same time, his underlying numbers slipped a bit in the second half and in the playoffs Vegas figured out how to pressure him into negating some of his transition ability. I suspect to some degree teams will try to do similar things against him this year and I can see a period of of him having to adjust a bit to what NHL teams are going to do after scorluting him more. I think overall he probably has a similar level season to his rookie year, which means it's basically a coin flip if he's top 5 or not. He should be top 10 though if he's mostly healthy

 

[nowhereman]

Not necessarily a slump, but I don't think he'll finish top 5 again this year. You gotta realize what this kid achieved was incredible, it's going to be verrrrry hard to replicate that.

Yes, what he did was incredibly special and difficult but Quinn Hughes is an incredibly special player. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he finished first amongst all defenseman.

 

[bukwas]

I think anywhere in the top 20 excludes him from sophomore slump territory. He can have a lower ppg while improving defensively and still be a better player.

 

[M2Beezy]

Norris Trophy winning streak will begin this season for Quinn Hughes

 

[Bankerguy]

Honestly, with Schmidt on the team now, it will free up Hughes a bit more. Edler/Schmidt are both very good. People forget that Edler was a 46 point pace dman last year when prorated to 82 games. A strong prorated +/- player too.... and this was exactly in line with the year before that.... Him and Schmidt are going to handle a lot of the really tough minutes.
Hughes is going to have an easier time... i think he'll end up top 5 in dman scoring, maybe top 10 but i'd bet on top 5

 

[canuckking1]

I don't think falling out of the top 5 means a sophomore slump. There's lots of good offensive defensemen out there. He was only 1 point up on Pietrangelo who was in 6th last year and he was 8th in PPG among defensemen. It did seem like his production at ES didn't match his play last year so I could see that improving, but at the same time, his underlying numbers slipped a bit in the second half and in the playoffs Vegas figured out how to pressure him into negating some of his transition ability. I suspect to some degree teams will try to do similar things against him this year and I can see a period of of him having to adjust a bit to what NHL teams are going to do after scorluting him more. I think overall he probably has a similar level season to his rookie year, which means it's basically a coin flip if he's top 5 or not. He should be top 10 though if he's mostly healthy

I think you're underrating Vegas' ability to pressure. I'd argue they are the best pressure team in the NHL and did something similar to Heiskanen, who only had 1 point in the series against them. I don't think other teams have the system or the personnel to employ a similar strategy. Hughes basically got the best test course you could get in terms of facing pressure in Vegas/St Louis 2 of the league's best.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I think it depends how the team does. I doubt we're going to see a confident Hughes flying up and down the ice and playing like one of the best dmen in the game if the Canucks are struggling to meet expectations. It'll be a lot of pressure on the kid both outside and on a personal level now that it's known what he can do.

Especially on the offensive end if they're lacking scoring depth Hughes is going to be one of the first guys to try and do too much and it's got nothing to do with being a young player, same can happen for veterans playing the same role like EK or Letang.

So yeah it's possible but there's no reason to think it's going to happen right now, we'll see how the season shakes out.

 

[MessierII]

I think his production dips but he becomes a better player.

 

[jetsforever]

Not sure I'd consider finishing outside top-5 in scoring to be a "slump"

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

I think his production dips but he becomes a better player.

This. Which is way more valuable for Canucks anyway.

 

[BAM]

I just hope Nucks fans don't disappear when Hughes ends up faltering in his sophmore season.

 

[BB06]

I just hope Nucks fans don't disappear when Hughes ends up faltering in his sophmore season.

Okay, but only if you don't disappear when the leafs lose in the first round again

 

[CherryToke]

I don't expect him to struggle at all in a division that can't play defence but stranger things have happened

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I think he’ll be great. I don’t know if the Canucks will shoot at 17% on the power play again but the individual growth in his game as a 21 year old will more than makeup for a likely step back in PP production.

He’s reaaaaaly young.

 

[LokiDog]

Not necessarily a slump, but I don't think he'll finish top 5 again this year. You gotta realize what this kid achieved was incredible, it's going to be verrrrry hard to replicate that.

This. And I don’t think that doesn’t mean he won’t ultimately be a top five offensive producer every season, I just won’t be surprised if it takes him 1-2 more years to reach that consistently and round out his game. Young players will fluctuate a bit while working on other aspects of their games and learning to be consistent at the NHL and then settle into who they are. With Hughes, I think you still definitely see him become the premier offensive producer we all expect but I won’t be surprised to see a bit of a dip in his pace this season as he continues to adjust to pro life. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he has a big year in the shortened schedule either. In either case, not something I’d call a “slump”.

 

[CanadienShark]

Top 5-10 seems reasonable.

He's got a ton of competition, even if he improves.

 

[BlueBaron]

Pretty lousy poll options. I voted no but not because I think he will "sophomore slump" but rather that the team will be worse and production will be harder. Vancouver had the fourth best powerplay last year and I think that is going to drop.

 

[Hammman]

The North Division isn't exactly made up of a bunch of defensive stalwarts. He's got a good shot at it.

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

I see their PP being pretty great again so I bet top 10 in D scoring, but I dont think he ever tops what he did last season ppg wise. I could see him being a 50 point guy for a while though.