The official University of Michigan thread

[Bob Probert Owns You]

The dormant Minnesota Golden Gophers thread may have something to say about this.

What a battle that would be!

 

[Cowumbus]

Do we expect Fantilli, McGroaty, Casey, and Brindley to play every game?

 

[Torts]

Do we expect Fantilli, McGroaty, Casey, and Brindley to play every game?

Barring injury or underwhelming play? Yes. We'll need this freshman group of forwards produce some secondary scoring behind the likes of Duke, Mackie, etc...

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Just curious after reading about the 9-2 win over BU since I had heard little about freshman TJ Hughes.

Twenty years old so his junior numbers can be taken with a grain of salt - but he did have over 120 points last season.

Is there something to see in terms of pro potential?

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Just curious after reading about the 9-2 win over BU since I had heard little about freshman TJ Hughes.

Twenty years old so his junior numbers can be taken with a grain of salt - but he did have over 120 points last season.

Is there something to see in terms of pro potential?

Here we go with the wannabe scout crap again... if you can't figure out that someone scoring a point a game as a freshman at Michigan could be a pro player, you really don't know what you're watching.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Here we go with the wannabe scout crap again... if you can't figure out that someone scoring a point a game as a freshman at Michigan could be a pro player, you really don't know what you're watching.

Despite the tenor of your post - which by the way provided little insight on the player - the purpose of my original post was to find out more about Hughes as a player.

A 21-year-old freshman, particularly one who was not drafted, is not the same as some of the 18 and 19 year olds who were first or second round selections.

After the huge numbers he put up in junior not one of the NHL teams used even a late-round pick to acquire his rights.

That doesn't mean he can't be a pro player one day. But far more players that have followed this path wind up in Europe as opposed to the NHL.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Despite the tenor of your post - which by the way provided little insight on the player - the purpose of my original post was to find out more about Hughes as a player.

A 21-year-old freshman, particularly one who was not drafted, is not the same as some of the 18 and 19 year olds who were first or second round selections.

After the huge numbers he put up in junior not one of the NHL teams used even a late-round pick to acquire his rights.

That doesn't mean he can't be a pro player one day. But far more players that have followed this path wind up in Europe as opposed to the NHL.

You're the big time scout and hockey reporter, Tony. I figured you'd know by now that the NHL draft beyond the first round is a crapshoot, where teams are trying to guess at the future athleticism of boys who haven't yet fully developed into men.

No, a 20-year-old (he'll be 21 on November 9) undrafted freshman is not the same as the first and second round picks. Look at the trajectory of his career. He was a point a game player in Tier 3, moved up to Tier 2, and was a point or better a game player as an 18-year-old, and a two-point-a-game player at 19/20. He wasn't draft eligible last year, as he turned 20 before Dec. 31, 2021. The previous season, he led the Brooks Bandits in scoring in a limited number of games. Teams aren't going to draft someone based on that small a sample size unless there's really something outstanding there, especially if scouts can't go see him in person. In his first year of draft eligibility, he wasn't yet a point a game player in the AJHL and probably wasn't physically developed, making it easy for scouts to pass on him.