We've also kind of been spoiled by kids like Nico and Bratt in recent years. Although I do recall a few people being worried because Nico had like 3 goals in his first 20 games.
Prospect Info: #1: Jack Hughes (C): Fired Up Edition
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We've also kind of been spoiled by kids like Nico and Bratt in recent years. Although I do recall a few people being worried because Nico had like 3 goals in his first 20 games.
Emperoreddy
Show Me What You Got!
People were saying Bratt should have never made the team when he cooled off his rookie year.
I have no idea how you can come up with that conclusion when reading my post. Calling it like it is around here will piss off certain posters and that’s a shame. It’s like our guys can do no wrong.
Jack has been horrible in our first two games and if you want to mess with his confidence, you let him sink at a position he’s not ready to play at the highest of levels. Does that mean he’ll stay there his entire career, absolutely not, but he wouldn’t be the first teenager to get shifted from center to wing, in his rookie year.
Billdo
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If it wasn’t for the expectations of a playoff season or bust situation which derive from the summer of Shero I’m guessing there would be less angst about the first two games for an undersized 18 year old. I think he will take longer to adjust than a big strong kid with less skill but the wait will be worth it. If some time in Bing would be best for him fine but I leave that to people much closer to the situation than me. As I’ve opined in the Hall contract discussion the best years for NJ are still down the road and I’m more interested in setting up those years correctly than any short term run at a bottom of the playoffs spot. I fully expect HUGHES will be leading the charge by the time the team is actually ready to compete.
TrufleShufle
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I think a lot of people knew he would struggle early, the debate is over how long it would take to figure it out. I predicted the first 10 games or so and we would see a noticeable difference, I still stand by that.
NJDevs26
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Not to mention Parise after being invisible for the first half of his rookie year as a center went to the wing and eventually became an All-Star
JimEIV
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Parise was also 21 years old his rookie year and still looked like he wasn't completely ready.
I thought he'd be good out of the gate. So I'm pretty surprised by his play thus far.
So I'm less confident going fwd, but I would not be surprised to see him have a big game on Wed.
JimEIV
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I had a hunch he would struggle early too...But NOT for the reasons we are seeing....I understand he's young, but he looks dumb out there. THAT I did not expect. I expected physical challenges for him...I never expected him looking completely lost. I thought he was a smarter player than what he has displayed so far....Nico never looked dumb...He looked out-matched physically often and it took him a while to figure things out...But he was never as clueless as Jack has been in his first two games.
Jack is still in the infancy of his development but I would be lying if I told you I was disappoint thus far.
Jack is still in the infancy of his development but I would be lying if I told you I was disappoint thus far.
Auto Pilot
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Kakko has a nearly identical xGF% to Hughes over his opening two games. People need to calm down about him not looking good. It has a lot more to do with his usage (on the staff) and who he’s been paired with (also on the staff) than it does with his supposed lack of NHL readiness.
there may be an Alabama issue for him. Bama players, especially running backs, play one or two games annually that are competitive. They play nine or ten that are so easy the players just aren’t pushed. They only have to learn so much in that environment. Sometimes they can overcome it at the pro level like Mark Ingram who took about three years to learn how to be an NFL back and some are not capable mentally despite being a college stud like Trent Richardson. And those are guys with three preparatory years after high school before they go pro.
Hughes was on a great team last season. How much did he really get pressed on defense or in terms of being positionally sound? I’m sure it was coached but the game was so easy for him last year that a number of those lessons didn’t have to sink in. I think he’s more Mark Ingram than Trent Richardson but his background may have hamstrung him a bit in terms of his mental readiness.
Hynes....The entire team looks lost....can expect an 18 yr old who isn't exactly defensive-minded to look completely lost.
JimEIV
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Well, I believe Jack is the first player to go directly from the US National Development Team to the NHL. We might be seeing why right now.
You know, a lot of people made light of Jack "Not playing against men" but there is something to having experience against higher levels of competition.
Auto Pilot
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He played against a stacked Russian men’s team with hall of fame players on it and stripped Ovechkin of the puck at the worlds. He burned them pretty badly at times and got player of the game for the US. Nothing suggests he’s not mentally ready. Teams made game plans around slowing him down in his league, yet he still torched teams.
sure but that’s a short tournament that’s long on names and short on prep and practice and structure like an NHL game. The complaints I’m seeing suggests Jack isn’t getting the structural elements defensively. That’s not physical or something that the Worlds is going to tax as I see it. Playing in the East West bowl isn’t likely to help an Alabama running back much even if he gets pro style coaching for two weeks and plays in the game.
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OmNomNom
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MartyOwns
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KovalchukFistPump
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I saw Hughes make some really nice dangles that showed his potential. In the last game, one play saw him and Bratt make some neat carries and dangles only for the play to completely die on Miles Wood's stick. We need to pair him up with another creative player and a defensively sound one. I wouldn't trust a Gusev-Hughes-Bratt line to not give up too many chances. Maybe Coleman or Zacha on the wing could let Hughes focus on being a creative player.
SteveCangialosi123
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I think Coleman-Hughes-Palmieri is the ideal line to hide his defensive warts. But the Coleman-Hughes-Simmonds line they were using in practice sounds like an improvement over what we’ve used in the first two games.
I didn’t think the against men narrative covered the positional issues some attribute to lack of experience or knowledge on the sort of game he will have to play as an NHL player from a defensive positioning standpoint. That’s much more limited than the message I took from against men. But that’s just me.
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