Luke Hughes named finalist for Calder Trophy

The 20-year-old put up 47 points in his first NHL campaign.

Follow along on Twitter @ToddCordell | @InfernalAccess

Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey with our writers and subscribers.

---

There weren’t many positives in what was a truly disastrous season for the New Jersey Devils. One of the exceptions was the play of Luke Hughes.

While he certainly hit some bumps in the road along the way – like any game he was forced to pair with Brendan Smith – there are a lot of reasons to be excited about Hughes and his future.

He put up 47 points in his first season as an NHL player. That is impressive for any player, let alone defenseman – top power play quarterback or not.

What’s crazy is the Devils had one of the worst PPs in the league for the majority of the season.

Only the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins scored power play goals at a lesser rate than the Devils from December 1st onwards.

Had Jack Hughes been healthy, and the unit clicked as it probably should have, we might well be talking about a 55+ point defenseman.

Still, 47 points is nothing to sneeze at; especially considering Hughes also posted strong on-ice numbers.

Of the six most used blueliners on the Devils, Hughes led the way in shot and chance share while finishing a close second to Simon Nemec in terms of expected goals.

He was nothing short of spectacular when he wasn’t anchored down by Smith. I mean, take a look at these splits.