Could Jack, Quinn and Luke Hughes deliver the best season by one family in NHL history?

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Credit: Luke and Jack Hughes (© Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports)

The NHL has put plans in motion to decentralize the Draft. But maybe we’ll see a decentralized version of the NHL Awards in June 2024, too. Instead of holding it in a glitzy location like Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena…why not hold it at the Hughes family residence? Maybe the summer home in Bloomington, Michigan?

After all, the way things are trending early this season, we could see half the hardware handed out to a single family between New Jersey Devils superstar Jack, his younger brother and teammate Luke and Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn. Seriously.

Through the season’s first month, Jack has an early claim to the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer, the Hart Trophy as MVP, the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player as voted by the players, and even the Lady Byng Trophy for most gentlemanly player, for which he finished as the runner-up last season. With a staggering 18 points in eight games, Hughes is scoring at a season-opening rate only matched by legends Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy. The Devils are generating a whopping 62 percent of the scoring chances with Jack on the ice. Considering he’s been the best player in the game so far this season and his Devils belong in the top tier of Stanley Cup contenders, he has to be an (egregiously) early favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

When Jack sets up on the point for a New Jersey power play, he can glance to his right and see brother Luke, who is commencing his first full season as an NHLer. When I spoke to Jack about the experience of playing with – and rooting for – a sibling on your own team, he admitted it can be very emotionally distracting at times, but the novelty has likely begun to wear off, and Luke has become ingratiated as a crucial component of the team. Through eight games this season, he’s amassed six points while playing close to 20 minutes a night. While Luke has all the makings of a deadly power-play presence for years to come, the Devils tilt the ice when Luke is out there at 5-on-5, too, generating 61.5 percent of the scoring chances. As Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis showed us earlier this week, no rookie separated from the pack in October. Luke, widely considered the best blueline prospect in the sport, was as good as any freshman. He’s undoubtedly in the mix for the Calder Trophy so far.

Now, if we shift our focus westward, look at what oldest brother Quinn Hughes is accomplishing in Vancouver. His puck-moving prowess has always been celebrated; last season he became the first defenseman in 29 years to record consecutive 60-assist seasons and the fastest defenseman ever to reach 200 career assists. But Quinn’s 5-foot-10, 180-pound frame belied the fact he was great all-around defenseman, not just a scoring weapon. So far this season, forming a stellar pair with Filip Hronek, Quinn is playing truly elite hockey. The scoring remains robust, as he has piled up 11 points through nine games, but he is dominating in every zone. The Canucks have outscored opponents 10-3 with him on the ice at 5-on-5. Only five defensemen league-wide are on the ice for fewer team shot attempts against per 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick. Hughes is right behind renowned defensive stalwart Jaccob Slavin in that stat. Per the new stat portal NHL EDGE, Hughes’ zone time this season is divided evenly between the offensive zone (43.5 percent) and defensive zone (40.0 percent), with the neutral zone making up the rest. He’s been a force all over the ice, playing more than 24 minutes a night.

So does Quinn have a serious shot at the Norris based on his early-season play? Heck yes, especially when, despite his massive gains in defensive play, he also leads all blueliners in scoring this season.

Keeping score? Jack, Luke and Quinn have strong early odds to take home as many as seven major NHL Awards this season. They could deliver the greatest year from one family in NHL history. The Howes, Hulls, Stastnys, Richards and so on featured siblings who excelled in the NHL at the same time, but if we’re looking at single-season simultaneous dominance: The Esposito brothers, Phil and Tony, had the most epic years. Phil led the league in goals the same year Tony won the Vezina and Calder in 1969-70. In 1973-74, they combined for the Hart, Pearson (Ted Lindsay), Art Ross and Vezina. The closest recent equivalent we’ve seen we’ve seen from a single household came in a span of two seasons when Henrik and Daniel Sedin combined for two Art Rosses, two Ted Lindsays, a Hart and three first-team all-star nods between 2009-10 and 2010-11.

But it’s possible the Hughes trio delivers the most decorated family season of ’em all. Yes, it’s incredibly early, but at the same time, Jack should rank among the elite forwards in the league all year, right? And the same goes for Luke among the rookies and Quinn among the defensemen. Dare to dream.

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Could Jack, Quinn and Luke Hughes deliver the best season by one family in NHL history?

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