Quinn Hughes maybe is the best skater in the draft ..and unlike so many of out top d-men prospects like Krys Mitchell and Jokiharhu he us a Left shot LD ..But he is only 5'10 175 ...we simply cannot ice a lineup filled with so many smallish den no matter how skilled they are ..you need a balance with some bigger stronger guys...
The 2nd point I would make is that none of Krys Mitchell or Hughes has a "special" point shot ability to beat goalies a lot from out there ..Jokiharhu nay be the best of then but even he is no Evan Bouchard or even Noah Dobson ...At some point we must get a guy who can beat goalies from the point with a big shot at a special frequency ..Also These 2 have the big size we require to push guts off pucks..So even though both are RD I an just leery if we drafted a mother shrimp like Hughes when we already have 3 actually bigger small skilled den in Krys Mitchell and Jokiharhu ..And we still have smallish Keith who cannot win strength battles with the oops and as his stick checks get worse with age he becomes pretty useless so ce he cannot fire and score from the oil too...
Hughes may be a good player but he brings some flaws that do not help us like the size issue and the nothing special on the point shot .. I also think he did not actually develop any more than he dominated in the Works Juniors ..He is fine in college with the bigger ice ...but in the NHL those big forwards will push him around and we already have 3 prospects coming who are not very big den ...so you show me a line up with 5 of 6 dmen all between 5'10 and 6'0 ...it just will not work.. Now IF you told me Hughes replaces Keith cause we could trade Keith...then I might pick Hughes ...but sorry I hope Stam does not go for another shrimp dman with our pick .. while Hughes has been in the 5-9 range on most lists at the start and at mid season ,I did see that Craig Button had moved him down to #12 on his rankings ...many GMsstill have him in their top ten...no doubt ...but I just do not think he is who we should target at #7 or #8 ...or #9 ...Yet know g that Stan and Kelley cannot resist skilled smallish PMD types it would not surprise me if they picked him..I just want something g different ..like a dmN with a great point to shot who beats goalies a lot with it ..a dman with enough size ND will gnesscto use it physically ..and a 2 -Way guy who also reads and reacts well defensively . AND so if Bouchard off the board before we pick at 7-9 then I would drFt Ehalstrom at #7 if still there and if he is gone before we pick then I would jump to Kotkaniemi who Button compares to Kopitar at the same Ge ...Renembe= 23 tens including gbefore he git drafted at #14 by L.A.and so if Kotkaniemi turnsbout ti be that and Stan passed on that in our already large stable upcoming smallish skilled PMD types ,then we should all scream ..."Not again!"...we just cannot be the smallest corps of dmen I the NHL ...and none of then anything special o the pint shot or can move anyone from I front of our net or with a strength battle. .We need some balance of days. .
The only thing that goes in Hughes favored if we target a dman is that he plays LD .. BUT maybe we can trade Krys for a LD prospect from a team short on RD prospects but loaded on the left side. .that makes more sense to me..Lucas Carlsson is another RD prospect in our system ...but still if Bouchard is there at #7-9 we cannot bypass him. But I think he goes at 5 or 6 just before or right after Boqvist (Boqvist isxNotger smallish great skating skilled offensively gifted dman..but he has that special point shot like Bouchard to beat gales from distance .. of course this is all not if we get a top 3 pick via lotto win.. Dahlin .at #1 of course (another RD but he has size) ...I would grab Zadina (special sbniper) at #2 ...great goal scorers with exceptional release and shot accuracy are hard to find.. And Svechnikov at #3 ...size some edge 200ft game ..skill ..Good in every aspect ...can score in variety of ways .. he is #3 in my books..
These are the clear top 3vif we win in a lotto draw to place 1 ,2oe 3...
