We've had a few posts on the two of them. Seems to me this conversation is going to go on for the next decade if they remain healthy so why not start a thread.
At the beginning of the year I thought if they both stayed healthy they would be sure fire future Hockey Hall of Famers. Perhaps even amongst the top 25 dmen of all time. I also thought Makar was the slightly better dman, but given that Hughes was a year younger and never played on a good team he had slightly more potential career wise than Makar.
I've changed my opinion. Hughes is the better dman, and will continue to be. Hughes is the best player the Canucks have ever had. And had moved his game up to a level that surpasses Makar. He's the third dman to achieve 200 assists over 3 seasons, Coffey and Orr being the others. And the teams those two played on were far superior to the Canucks and the eras they played in far more conducive to scoring goals. How good do you have to be to get those kinds of numbers with two years of crappy Canucks teams, in this day and age?
Can a little guy be good at defense? Hell YES!
Quote:
among the 120 NHL defencemen who have played at least 1000 5-on-5 minutes this season, Quinn Hughes has the fourth-lowest rate of shot attempts against when he’s on the ice. Makar is 56th.
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/canu ... se-8561908I still think Makar will win the Norris. I'm not sure the eastern press realize how good Hughes is. I also think if Hughes stays healthy over his career he is likely to become recognized as the best American dman ever. Surpassing guys like Chelios and Leetch. One of the top 10 dman of all time.