Quinn Hughes favoured by multiple Sportsnet insiders to take home award this season

The National Hockey League's 2024-25 season here in North America is officially upon us with a trio of games on Tuesday - Seattle vs St. Louis, Florida vs Boston and Utah vs Chicago. For the Vancouver Canucks, they'll open things up on Wednesday night as they host the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena.

On Tuesday, Sportsnet released their insider predictions for the 2024-25 season and looked at division winners, Stanley Cup champion, as well as who they think will take home individual awards this season.

For the Norris Trophy, which is handed out annually to the National Hockey League's best defenceman, four of the insiders/reporters predicted that Quinn Hughes will win it for a second consecutive year. Those who predicted Hughes to take it home are Elliotte Friedman, Luke Gazdic, Iain MacIntyre and Rory Boylen.

Hughes was named the winner of the Norris Trophy last season after setting new career highs in goals, assists and points, the latter of which he finished eight shy of 100.

Along with the Norris Trophy, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman predicts that Quinn Hughes will be this year's recipient of the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player. Only one member of the Vancouver Canucks has ever won the Hart Memorial Trophy and that was Henrik Sedin following the 2009-10 season where he led the league in points with 112.

Aside from individual awards, the Canucks didn't get much love from the insiders when it came to predicting who would win the Pacific Division. Sonny Sachdeva was the only one of the 20 that picked the Vancouver Canucks as Pacific Division champions. This isn't the first time the Canucks were overlooked for the Pacific Division title, as last year, no one at Sportsnet picked them, but they defied the odds and won their first division crown in over a decade.

The chase for a second consecutive appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Vancouver Canucks gets underway tomorrow night against Calgary. Fans across the country can tune in to watch the game on Sportsnet starting at 7 pm PT/10 pm ET.