Prospect Info: 1st Overall Hype Thread: Meaningless wins

[Nubmer6]

From the Athletic's post lottery mock draft:

Corey Masisak: The Devils will hope that Hughes and Nico Hischier can be their 1-2 punch at center for the next decade. As a bonus, general manager Ray Shero was Jim Hughes’ agent, er advisor, when he played in college at Providence.

Pronman’s take: In Hughes, New Jersey gets a game-breaking talent who can project to be one of its best players in a short amount of time and a star in the NHL eventually. Hughes would be the first USNTDP player to jump straight to the NHL, but that seems the likely trajectory at the moment. On Day 1, he will help an NHL team’s power play, as well as be relied on to lead the puck up ice to attempt clean zone entries and be a driver with his skating and skill. Even on a nucleus with Hischier and Hall, Hughes should emerge as a go-to option shortly.

 

[mtnet]

Definitely Hughes

Time is now to make a big splash in FA too

 

[NJDevs26]

I was ready to accept Byram when we escaped #6 and #5....

Holy crap.....We got Hughes.


And I bet the Main Board had an epic meltdown, too.


Did you enjoy drinking their tears, my friend?

I was getting annoyed the board was starting to come up with some 502's...us winning the lottery nearly put HF under

 

[BenedictGomez]

Hughes does not seem to have the same knack for goal scoring as Kakko. I'm also not yet sold on Hughes. Everyone seems to be comparing him to Kane, but Kane had 145 points in 58 games (2.5 ppg) in his draft year whereas Hughes had 86 points in 41 games (2.1 ppg). The key, though, is that Kane had 1.1 goals per game where Hughes had 0.6 goals per game. Kane scored goals at almost twice the clip of Hughes.

The thing you're missing is that Kane was almost a full year older than Hughes, that's a big difference.

Were Hughes to play in the OHL next year like Kane did, I be Hughes would light-up the OHL too.

 

[NJDevs26]

From the Athletic's post lottery mock draft:

Good, can they actually GET a good PP coach to take advantage of Hughes' talent then?

 

[MauDevils]

Switzerland never had a first overall pick.

Finland has never had a first overall pick.

It's destiny.

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

If we don't take Hughes I will lose it. His skill and potential is Patrick Kane like. Kakko is great and I would have been thrilled with the 2nd pick. However, Hughes just has too much going for him. Like I said in the other thread the kid is; handsome, well spoken, incredibly skilled and an American on top of all that. This is the guy you build around on the ice and market a franchise around to fans off the ice. The hands on this kid are something else. Kakko might be filling the net while playing in a better league which also means he's got better linemates. Potential wise though he's just not Jack Hughes, simple as that.

I liked your post in the other thread. He is a special All American, good looking and well spoken marketing piece.

 

[JrFischer54]

Is Hughes a legit center? Like one that can win face offs two way play and can play any situation? Or is he a “center” but really a small winger?

I hear kakko is the better goal scorer but Hughes is the better player. I mean if one guy puts up 80pts but 50 of them are goals and the other guy puts up 30g and 80pts is it a big difference?

Devils are absolutely going with Hughes they even had him on their Twitter before the results came out. Just wonder who will end up the better player.

 

[JrFischer54]

Now question. How do you know if a kid is going to bust like yakapov? What are the warning signs? Did yak have any?

 

[TheUnseenHand]

The thing you're missing is that Kane was almost a full year older than Hughes, that's a big difference.

Were Hughes to play in the OHL next year like Kane did, I be Hughes would light-up the OHL too.

That's a fair point, but it's also unknown and speculation. Hughes is a gamble compared to what Kane was when he was drafted.

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

The Metro just got a lot better with Hughes and Kakko!

 

[Emperoreddy]

This might as well be the PGT...tonight deserves one

Haha well it pretty much is. I just didn’t want to make it a Hughes thread solely since there is a non-zero chance.

 

[PWiz30]

I think this is a fair criticism. Hughes does not seem to have the same knack for goal scoring as Kakko. I'm also not yet sold on Hughes. Everyone seems to be comparing him to Kane, but Kane had 145 points in 58 games (2.5 ppg) in his draft year whereas Hughes had 86 points in 41 games (2.1 ppg). The key, though, is that Kane had 1.1 goals per game where Hughes had 0.6 goals per game. Kane scored goals at almost twice the clip of Hughes.

Hughes played half his schedule against NCAA and international competition. You could make an argument on the international portion of the schedule but it's definitely harder to put up points against NCAA teams than it is in the O.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Now question. How do you know if a kid is going to bust like yakapov? What are the warning signs? Did yak have any?

If there is one thing that is not questionable about Hughes, it's his work ethic and pasison for the game. I do not think there should be a legitimate concern about him being a Yakupov type bust if for nothing else other than his drive to be the best player he can be.

 

[Blackjack]

I liked your post in the other thread. He is a special All American, good looking and well spoken marketing piece.

Between Hall, Wood, Hischier, and now Hughes, NJ will be quite the smoke show, just need to get Moore and Henrique back.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

Hughes played half his schedule against NCAA and international competition. You could make an argument on the international portion of the schedule but it's definitely harder to put up points against NCAA teams than it is in the O.

Fair enough, but is it really twice as hard?

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

Hughes passes well through traffic in the slot. I noticed that he is good with connecting passes in tight areas.

 

[Blackjack]

Now question. How do you know if a kid is going to bust like yakapov? What are the warning signs? Did yak have any?

Drafted by Edmonton.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

How is Hughes defensively and on Faceoffs?His speed makes up for it during play in the O zone, but I feel like he may get killed on draws for the first few years

as do most young elite centers

 

[Oneiro]

Let's do a reverse Neids and get Quinn here in 2026.

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

Drafted by Edmonton.

Haha. True, we need to avoid that.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Not even mad the Rags moved up. I make that trade to win the lotto every time.

 

[MNDevilsfan]

Said in the draft thread I personally lean a bit towards Kakko, mainly because any time a 17 year old lights up a men's league the way he has it catches my eye, but I would be really surprised if the Devils don't take Hughes. I'll be happy either way as they both look to have the makings of special NHL players.

 

[Devil X]

So just one question, I know of Hughes and his ablility and skill but my main question is why everyone thinks a 5’10 160 lbs 18 year old can actually play on the NHL right away at center? His height I’m fine with it’s the fact that his weight is very low. Even if he puts on 10 pounds. Seems like defenseman would have a field day with him in corners.

I guess one advantage is with Nico he didn’t need to be a #1 center so he will get 2nd and 3rd line centers as match ups.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

Now question. How do you know if a kid is going to bust like yakapov? What are the warning signs? Did yak have any?

When you have a prospect like Hughes - Matthews, McDavid, Eichel, Dahlin... these guys are so good they are better than 80% of NHL players before they turn 18.

Talents that tend to bust are in unconfirmed drafts where you dont know the definite #1 or the draft is just so weak the #1 is like your average 4-12 prospect with decent potential to bust.

To my knowledge I cant remember any talents like these recent young stars and what Hughes is projected as - busting. Maybe Ekblad is the most disappointing one in recent memory but I think he gets more hate than he deserves as well as poor coaching.