Vancouver Canucks blueliner Quinn Hughes has completed one of the most difficult tasks asked of a modern defenseman by excelling on a tanking team while playing high-volume minutes against top-line opponents, night after night.
Hughes has been one of the lone bright spots for the Canucks amid another disappointing season — Vancouver appeared to be tanking for Bedard but hasn't been truly awful enough to bolster its odds of securing the hometown phenom in this summer’s draft. Hughes has been among the league’s best defensemen and though there isn’t much to be stoked about in Vancouver, we may have overlooked his excellent season to date.