An elaborate blog post about Kakko and Hughes in Finnish by a Finnish hockey journalist who has been living in Edmonton since 1970s. Google translated below.
https://www.nordicbet.com/fi/blogi/...hBZHC1d2cnYSPVc6CfkgCW0yi8e6UVv_LmS_sqpp1Si8Y
JACK OR CABIN? New Jersey Devils won the Draftlotto and booked first in Vancouver for a five-week and one-day NHL Draft. GM Ray Shero is facing a really exciting decision. (Picture: TT) "AS A SMALL VERSION OF MCDAVID…" A couple of days ago, 18 years old, born in Orlando, Florida, Jack Hughes, who spent most of his boyhood in Toronto, Canada, was born to play ice hockey. Father Jim Hughes played as a defender of American university discipline at Providence College and became a coach after a modest professional career. Mother Ellen also played a university disc and represented the US in the Women's World Championships in 1992. Jim was an assistant coach at IHL's Orlando Solar Bears when Jack was born on May 14, 2001. Only 12 days later, Jack was shot sitting in his first championship cup when Solar Bears won the Turner Cup. The Hughes family traveled through the Boston Bruins organization to Toronto in 2006. John Ferguson Jr., who played at the same Providence University Team, hired Jim Toronto Marlies as an assistant coach for the AHL team. Toronto is the world's largest ice hockey factory, and Jim Hughes's career in Maple Leaf's organization continued with the title "Director of Player Personnel", which means he was the boss of the club until 2015.
Jack and his two brothers spent nearly ten years in Toronto (older brother Quinn has already played a very skillful pile of packs in Vancouver Canucks, younger brother Luke playing as a defender at NTDP). Jack attempted to enter the Ontario Junior League as a minor with the so-called "Exceptional Player" status, but Hockey Canada did not give this very rare permission (Connor McDavid, John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad and Sean Day so far are the only OHL players who have been admitted to the league as minors). Later, Jack's way, like the best American talent, led the American National Development Program to the team. Nowadays, there are so many NHL players through the NTDP in Michigan that not all names can be listed. Jack broke records in NTDP for all the American stars who played before him. Previously, the record-breaking record of the entire NTDP career in the name of Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane and Clayton Keller remained in history. Hughes finally made 197 points in the program. Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel also left behind.
SMALL NOT TO PLAY NHL scouts often look at parents when they consider the size of the prospectus. Jack Hughes is exactly the same size as Dad Jim's best day - about 178 cent and 75 pounds. "For many nights, he's like a smaller version of McDavid," said the anonymous NHL scout for The Hockey News (if they want to hear such information from the talent scouts, they will always remain anonymous). Jack has also been told that if you can imagine Patrick Kane playing in the middle, that is Jack Hughes. Hughes is not considered a once-a-generation superstar, like some Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid. But he is still expected to have a top-level NHL player and a tie-in. Jack Hughes's skating, conception and skills are all at the top level. Only the shot does not reach the top of the top players. Hughes is able to skate really fast and process the game quickly in a fast pace. In the NHL, the size of the players is said to be less and less. Now there is room for really skilled, smaller players. Vancouver Canucks' Venerable Elias Pettersson has arrived at the league just in time, for example.
In the name of the truth, of course, we have to admit that the Stanley Cup team, for example, of the ruling master Washington Capitals was really big. But still, the scouts of many NHL clubs now regret not having taken the 170-cent Alex DeBrincat earlier in the summer 2016 NHL Draft. The Chicago Blackhawks only booked a skilful pier on 39 shifts on the second day of Draft. If the reservation was to be held again today, the 128-point scorer at the NHL would surely be among the top six or eight.
The only reason for DeBrincat's second round was his small size. The NHL has seen small men in the past, such as Theoren Fleury, Martin St. Louis, or Steve Sullivan, but none of them was reserved among the top names in Draft. They got to clear their way to the first force later. The old NHL truth that a big player has to prove he can't play and the smaller one he can, was still true. Nowadays, we are able to admire the skills of small-sized pendants such as Johnny Gaudreau, Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson and DeBrincat. Jack Hughesia has been held as the number one reserve for the NHL Draft in the summer of 2019 for about two years. Until the very last days. Some experts still consider Jack the number one. For example, the leading scout of the TSN, the former NHL manager and the Prospekt expert, Craig Button, sees Hughesia Draft as the best player in all skills, except for the shot. Speaking about the issue at Edmonton's sports radio, Button believes Jack Hughes is much better than any other five-week player. The absolute number one. But after the World Championships in Vancouver, and especially during the World Championships in Slovakia, the challenger has been a challenger from Turku.
FOOT IN COUNTRY KAVER .."
Finnish Turku is quite far from the prairie. So I decided to ask Kaapo Kako about his teammate. Originally launched in Turku, Weiko, Jonne Virtanen has played 542 matches in the SM league. Virtanen trains in the same fitness coach guru Hannu Rautala's group, where Kaapo Kakko was able to train with professionals last summer.
"What kind of dude is this Kaapo?", I decided to ask Monster.
"Feet in the ground guy," began an analysis of the Turku dialect. "Mature to your age. You know you're not good, but not at all arrogant. He loves to f***," replied Virtanen.
All ice hockey players love to hang out. Some may be more than others.
"That's right," said Jonne. "It happened last winter we had free friends to spend 4 hours outside," TPS's 197-cent striker laughed.
There it came. One thing seems to combine the best. Inventa la Partita. Finding your own game in your own time. Inventa la Partita.
"And good hell is good to play. During Mun's ni is Barkovi and Kakko ku rises to his own level as a tiny person. Above is only the same age as Granlundii or Ranta."
U-20
Vancouver World Championships in Vancouver and Vancouver, Victoria, at the turn of the year, began to change the debate on the first-ever title of the NHL Draft.
The 17-year-old Kaapo Kakko played well in principle in the world's best 19-year-old tournament. In the finale against the US, he made the winning goal just under two minutes before the end. The coach threw # 24 on the ice at the end of the ice when the Little Lions protected their lead. This was not missed by many.
A few NHL scouts who have written about this have admitted that their clubs would be the first to receive Kaapo if there was such a chance. But these teams won't be able to book first as a really stunning player deal.
This is always the case with the NHL reservation when all 31 GMs are in the same state. In the same tray, literally.
I think that Kaapo speaks of being already in TPS's shirt and still in the Slovak World Championships to prove he can play with men and shine in it. He scored 22 goals and 38 points in 45 league games. He broke the scores of under 18-year-olds in the name of Alexander Barkov (21). Such a willingness to play as a professional at a very young age is extremely rare.
Cake can already be called NHL-ready on the basis of presentations. He is 186 centimeters and 90 kilos. Strong corners, and good to defend. Creative with a reel, and a good scorer. At the corners, it is impossible for him to get off the reel.
Comparisons of the same age TPS-grown Mikko Rantanen are suitable. Rantanen started in the quadruple chain of the Turks during his reservation period, while Kakko was once again one of the best teams in the series.
I know I only stayed for the high 2 which I believe was Santini then peaced out since we didn't have another pick till the fourth round. Only the diehards saw the Jeremy Brodeur thing and that was a niche moment.
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