The Vancouver Canucks might not have won the Stanley Cup, but their captain has taken home a significant piece of hardware.
The 24-year-old blueliner was awarded the James Norris Memorial Trophy on Thursday, the NHL’s top honour for a defenceman who demonstrates “the greatest all-round ability” in the regular season.
It’s Hughes’ first time winning the award, which has in the past been earned by NHL defensive greats such as Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, Ray Bourque and Nicklas Lidstrom.
It marks the first time a Vancouver Canuck has won the prestigious award, and serves as a remarkable capstone to Hughes’ first season as team captain.
“The reality of winning an award like this is you can’t do it alone, you need really good players around you and I certainly have that,” Hughes said in accepting the award.
Hughes led the league’s defencemen in scoring during the 2023-2024 campaign, putting up 17 goals and 92 points and an enviable plus/minus of +38.
Hughes beat out finalists Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche for the trophy.
Earlier Thursday, Canucks management took care of some other key off-season business, signing forward Dakota Joshua to a four-year deal and defenceman Tyler Myers to a three-year extension.
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