Scoring is up in the NHL and defensemen are joining in on the fun! In particular, rookie defensemen. Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes are not only battling it out for the Calder Trophy, but they may also be establishing themselves as two of the next great NHL blueliners.
In the last 35 years only Brain Leetch (32) and Nick Lidstrom (30) have racked up more points in their first 33 NHL regular season games as defensemen. Quinn Hughes was able to score 26 points in his first 33, while Cale Makar has already scored 28 in just 29 games played.
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Both rookies actually got their start at the end of the 2018-19 season. Hughes collected 3 assists in 5 games to finish the regular season with the Canucks. After finishing the college season with UMass, and collecting the Hobey Baker Award as the best NCAA men's hockey player, Makar joined the Avalanche in the playoffs. He scored in his first game and went on to collect 5 assists to total 6 points in his first 10 NHL playoff games.
The NHL Rookie of the Year Award has been handed out since 1932-33 but has only been won by a defenseman 11 times. The last blueliner to do so was Aaron Ekblad of the Florida Panthers after the 2014-15 season.
Both Makar and Hughes have teammates that have recently won the Calder. Makar is looking to join Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon as the 3rd Av to win the honours in the past 9 seasons. If Hughes were to come away with the award, he would be the 2nd Canuck in as many years to do so, with Elias Pettersson claiming the trophy just last year.
Source: NHL.com
