Summer Series Part 1: Attainable milestones for key Canucks next season

Part 1: Quinn Hughes continues his climb to the top of the Canucks record book

In a five part series this week, we will examine the possibilities for key members of the Vancouver Canucks in terms of reachable milestones and prominent places in franchise history. In the first installment we look at Quinn Hughes and his rapid ascension through the ranks of Canucks scoring among defensemen:

At the ripe old age of 23, Quinn Hughes has kept those in charge of re-writing the Vancouver Canucks record books busy. Already he has twice set the franchise record for points by a defenseman in a single season. And in many ways, it feels like the dynamic defender is still just getting started in his career.

However with 241 points in his first 283 National Hockey League games, Hughes has positioned himself nicely to reach both 300 points and 300 games in his fifth full season.

When Hughes plays his 300th NHL game (tentatively scheduled for November 16th in Calgary), he will move into the top 20 all-time among Canucks defensemen in franchise history. He starts the season 24th on the list and will soon pass the likes of Troy Stecher, Bret Hedican, Brent Sopel and Doug Halward. Should Hughes appear in all 82 Canucks games next season, he can move as high as 17th on the organization's all-time games played list for defensemen.

With 67 points, Hughes, incredibly, will pass Doug Lidster and move into fifth place on the all-time list of highest scoring Canucks defensemen. And should he break his own single-season record yet again and get to 81 points, Hughes would join Jyrki Lumme and Dennis Kearns for third on the list behind only Alex Edler (409) and Mattias Ohlund (325).

Putting position aside, Hughes has a chance to move into the top 25 scorers in franchise history next season. A 70-point season would move the Orlando, FL native to 311 career points which would put him 25th in all-time Canucks scoring as things stand right now. However, JT Miller will be climbing the ranks ahead of Hughes which will push others lower and may make it difficult for Hughes to finish inside the top 25 at season's end.

Hughes also sits 20th in all-time assists as a Canuck and has a legitimate shot of moving into the top 10 after this season. If he picks up 46 helpers he'll draw even with Todd Bertuzzi who currently holds down 10th spot and 50+ assists will move Hughes past Andre Boudrias (267) into ninth.

And by season's end, Hughes will in all likelihood be third among Canucks defenders in career assists. He's sixth right now with 215 and should easily move past Ohlund (232), Lumme (238) and Lidster (242). At that point, he'll be behind only Dennis Kearns (290) and Alex Elder (310).

In part two of our series, we'll look at the many milestones Elias Pettersson is likely to reach in the 2023-24 season.