VANCOUVER, BC - NOVEMBER 16: Vancouver Canucks Defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) looks up ice during their NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Arena on November 16, 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

With extreme talent beyond his years, Vancouver Canucks rookie defender, Quinn Hughes has the people buzzing. The possibility of him breaking Elias Pettersson’s rookie scoring record grows after every game. Will he succeed?

Quinn Hughes has single-handedly become the best defender on the Vancouver Canucks roster. In fact, at this point in the 2019-2020 season, Hughes is one of the best defencemen in the National Hockey League. Period. As of December 5th, the shifty kid from Orlando has 23 points in 28 games. He is tied with Shea Weber for sixth in points amongst defencemen and that’s no fluke.

The Canucks recently lost their franchise leader in points by a defender, Alex Edler to injury. He will miss a minimum of two weeks as reported by Sportsnet. Hughes, who’s an offensive threat from the blueline, will feel the weight of responsibility shift to the defensive side of the puck, but Travis Green has had full confidence in his rookie since day one.

There was similar confidence from the coach last season when we witnessed Elias Pettersson become the team’s star player overnight. The silky Swede was incredible right out of the gate, scoring ten goals in ten games. Pettersson went on to capture the Calder Trophy all the while surpassing team legend Pavel Bure on the Canucks rookie scoring record.

Pettersson accomplished something that hadn’t been done in a Canucks uniform for over 26 years. He broke the rookie record. Now, we are only two months into the following season and it appears Pettersson’s new record is in danger. 66 points got it done last year, but looking now, the American, on the back end is on pace for 66.5. It would be incredible to see the rookie record broken on back to back seasons, but what’s really impressive is the fact that Quinn is doing it as a defender.

Hughes shows a lot of similarities as Pettersson in all the right areas. His skating is outer-worldly, his vision is on the same level, his control of the puck is arguably better and the kid just wants to win and be better night in and night out.

At this point last season it appeared as if Pettersson was never going to slow down. He was scoring every single night and teams couldn’t figure him out. Sound familiar? We are seeing the exact same thing with Hughes. But looking back, what happened as the season went on? Pettersson played a lighter schedule in Sweden and wasn’t prepared for an 82-game grind in the NHL. He slumped due to serious fatigue and only potted two goals in his last 28 contests.

With that in mind, you have to wonder, will the same thing happen to Hughes later this season? Coming out of playing some college puck, Hughes is used to a 30 game season, not 82. That is a massive jump, especially since the games get more difficult as the season moves forward towards the playoffs. Will Hughes feel the same fatigue as Pettersson? It’s hard to say. Defenders and forwards are so different and Hughes is an assist man first, goal scorer second — the opposite of Pettersson.

I don’t have all the answers but I know this for certain, two things need to happen if Hughes wants a sniff of the rookie record. First, he is going to need a healthy Pettersson all season long. The two young guns have become the backbone of this roster and they thrive when they are on the ice at the same time.

Secondly, the Canucks power play has been dynamite and it will need to remain in the leagues top five until April. That shouldn’t be too hard with Hughes as the quarterback. Have you seen this kid? Simply, jawdropping. I never truly understood the term “quarterback of the power play” until he came along.

So, can Hughes be the all-time rookie scorer for the Canucks by seasons end? Yes. Will Hughes be the All-time rookie scorer? It’s going to be tight until the very end. He has the skills to do it and he has the team around him to help him get there. Either way, it’s going to be exciting to watch for the end result.

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The Canucks hit an absolute grand slam with this guy and with him on the roster for the foreseeable future, it is entirely possible that he breaks a lot more records than just this one. If he wants to chase Edler on the Canucks all-time points list, he is well on his way.