2019 NHL Draft, #LoseForHughes, etc.

[Icebreakers]

The dude is 17 lol . Some crazy shit.

 

[stampedingviking]

Another ridiculous Peter Forsberg-esque shift by Kaapo Kakko today, leading to a goal.

When Hughes can do that against men in one of the top leagues, then I'll believe he's an undisputed 1OA. Until then, Kakko for me.

 

[Knight53]

Kakko is just incredible. Puck protection, hands, skating is so similar to Matthews.

Hughes would need an incredible season for Kakko not to go 1st overall.

 

[Icebreakers]

Kirby Dach is blazing towards the top of the draft. 22 points in 12 games , 6'3 200+ pound center. Dudes an absolute force.


The top 3-4 of this draft is going to be absolutely stacked. 2013 all over again imo.

 

[Blade Paradigm]

Jack Hughes now has 2 goals, 13 points in 10 games this season with the USNTDP. The U18 team has scored 41 goals in total, so he has contributed to 31.7% of their scoring. He has a points-per-game average of 1.30 so far, well below Clayton Keller's 1.72 draft-season average. 5 of his 11 assists are primary.

For comparison, Kaapo Kakko has 3 goals, 10 points in 14 Liiga games so far this season. TPS has scored 38 goals so far, so he has contributed to 26.3% of their scoring. 6 of his 7 assists are primary.

Hughes is on a junior team. Kakko is in the Finnish Elite League.

Their stats aren't supposed to look similar.

 

[Josepho]

Yeah, Hughes is having a mildly disappointing start to the year. I think Dach, Kakko and Hughes are all top 3 at the moment in their own tier without one really seperating themselves from the others.

If this continues and we win the 1st overall pick, might get real awkward if the Canucks pass on Quinn's brother and I sure as hell don't want tunnel-vision towards Jack due to the optics of selecting him.

Granted, this is all premature and somebody in the Hughes thread himself made the good point that they U18 squad has played a bunch of stronger NCAA teams and the schedule is going to soften soon. I believe I mentioned here that the bigger question will be if teams see him fit as a Center at the NHL level.

 

[Melvin]

Here's a few other non-top-prospect guys with strong stats so far who I haven't heard as much about:

Mikko Kokkonen
Iivari Räsänen
Dillon Hamaliuk
Maxim Shabanov

 

[PredsForPresidents]

Yeah, Hughes is having a mildly disappointing start to the year. I think Dach, Kakko and Hughes are all top 3 at the moment in their own tier without one really seperating themselves from the others.

If this continues and we win the 1st overall pick, might get real awkward if the Canucks pass on Quinn's brother and I sure as hell don't want tunnel-vision towards Jack due to the optics of selecting him.

Granted, this is all premature and somebody in the Hughes thread himself made the good point that they U18 squad has played a bunch of stronger NCAA teams and the schedule is going to soften soon. I believe I mentioned here that the bigger question will be if teams see him fit as a Center at the NHL level.

Funnily enough, I was just talking about this to my family

 

[Icebreakers]

Yeah, Hughes is having a mildly disappointing start to the year. I think Dach, Kakko and Hughes are all top 3 at the moment in their own tier without one really seperating themselves from the others.

If this continues and we win the 1st overall pick, might get real awkward if the Canucks pass on Quinn's brother and I sure as hell don't want tunnel-vision towards Jack due to the optics of selecting him.

Granted, this is all premature and somebody in the Hughes thread himself made the good point that they U18 squad has played a bunch of stronger NCAA teams and the schedule is going to soften soon. I believe I mentioned here that the bigger question will be if teams see him fit as a Center at the NHL level.

I think given Quinn is in our org, they will most definitely take Jack if hes available. They dont want to damage anything , and possibly look bad if Jack turns into what he is projected to become. You have the hype, the brothers, the talent. Its almost once in a life time opportunity.

 

[Yultron]

It's only a matter of time before the Canucks fall back to earth. They are overachieving but they overachieved last season at the start and than collapsed for the next 30 games and then finished the season strong. I feel this season will be similar

 

[Hansen]

Here's a few other non-top-prospect guys with strong stats so far who I haven't heard as much about:

Mikko Kokkonen
Iivari Räsänen
Dillon Hamaliuk
Maxim Shabanov

Kokkonen has had some hype for a couple years but was underwhelming last year, surging back in his draft year it seems

 

[Blade Paradigm]

I think given Quinn is in our org, they will most definitely take Jack if hes available. They dont want to damage anything , and possibly look bad if Jack turns into what he is projected to become. You have the hype, the brothers, the talent. Its almost once in a life time opportunity.

If one or two players are ranked ahead of Jack at the end of the season -- and let's say Vancouver has the first-overall pick --, do the Canucks select Jack or trade down to take him?

Vancouver would probably want to use the first-overall pick at home, but it wouldn't be the smartest thing to do if another team has Kakko or somebody else at #1.

Then again, we would never hear the end of it if the players ranked ahead of Jack become better players in the NHL and we passed on them.

 

[Blade Paradigm]

I've condensed some of my thoughts about Hughes vs Keller into a tweet/graphic:

 

[DFAC]

If one or two players are ranked ahead of Jack at the end of the season -- and let's say Vancouver has the first-overall pick --, do the Canucks select Jack or trade down to take him?

Vancouver would probably want to use the first-overall pick at home, but it wouldn't be the smartest thing to do if another team has Kakko or somebody else at #1.

Then again, we would never hear the end of it if the players ranked ahead of Jack become better players in the NHL and we passed on them.

With the way it's looking right now, take Kakko 1st overall and call it a day. He's playing in a men's league at 17....amazing

 

[Melvin]

I've condensed some of my thoughts about Hughes vs Keller into a tweet/graphic:

No offense but this is a big pet peeve of mine. The relevant comparison would be Kellers point total through his first ten games.

Having said that, yes Hughes numbers are not overly impressive thus far
Right now Kakko looks like the no brainer number one.

 

[Seattle Totems]

If the Canucks end up with the 1st pick and the Canucks don't take the BPA in the draft it will be a huge mistake. Jack Hughes needs to step it up if he wants to be that player. Quinn Hughes needs to be a professional and deal with whatever the Canucks decide.

 

[Blade Paradigm]

No offense but this is a big pet peeve of mine. The relevant comparison would be Kellers point total through his first ten games.

Having said that, yes Hughes numbers are not overly impressive thus far
Right now Kakko looks like the no brainer number one.

Fair.

Keller had 4 goals, 16 points in his first 10 games of his draft season.

He had 16 goals, 50 points in his first 25 games. That's 2.0 PPG.

Keller dominated in the first segment of his draft season. Hughes isn't even close.

Hughes has 2 goals, 13 points after 10 games. To match Keller's total after 25 games, he needs to score 14 goals, 37 points in his next 15 games.

 

[nuck luck]

If one or two players are ranked ahead of Jack at the end of the season -- and let's say Vancouver has the first-overall pick --, do the Canucks select Jack or trade down to take him?

Vancouver would probably want to use the first-overall pick at home, but it wouldn't be the smartest thing to do if another team has Kakko or somebody else at #1.

Then again, we would never hear the end of it if the players ranked ahead of Jack become better players in the NHL and we passed on them.

BPA period. This should never change.

But, I also think this mgt group will look at the optics and won't be able to resist having brothers again. BPA will be second priority, especially with weis' input.

1OA and we take Hughes while Kakko is there (And Kakko is BPA), it will be Ok if they reach similar levels and Kakko doesn't blow Hughes away.

Worst case is coming in 2nd. 1OA may have Kakko ranked first, but tell bennbrod their going with Hughes. Draft in Van, optics and creating hype will over ride all else. It scares me to think what they'll pay...next years first and second plus a prospect maybe?

I've been hoping for Kakko, but this won't happen.

 

[Icebreakers]

It's weird how button still said no one is even close to Hughes in the draft.

 

[Melvin]

It's weird how button still said no one is even close to Hughes in the draft.

Button doesn't know much about European prospects.

 

[Icebreakers]

Button doesn't know much about European prospects.

I mean he moves Kakko from 4 in his pre season to #2. And Dach jumped up to only 5. He thinks no one is close now, and by the end of the season no one will be close.


Im kind of worried about Jack though. He should be dominating that league. Keller was much more productive at this time in his draft year.

When looking at first overall talents, there should be no excuse for production.

 

[Canadian Canuck]

This is a very very stacked year for forwards.

Hughes, Kakko, Dach, Cozens, Newhook, Podkolzin, Krebs, Boldy, Turcotte etc. Insane compared to last years defense heavy draft.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Jack Hughes now has 2 goals, 13 points in 10 games this season with the USNTDP. The U18 team has scored 41 goals in total, so he has contributed to 31.7% of their scoring. He has a points-per-game average of 1.30 so far, well below Clayton Keller's 1.72 draft-season average. 5 of his 11 assists are primary.

For comparison, Kaapo Kakko has 3 goals, 10 points in 14 Liiga games so far this season. TPS has scored 38 goals so far, so he has contributed to 26.3% of their scoring. 6 of his 7 assists are primary.

Hughes is on a junior team. Kakko is in the Finnish Elite League.

Their stats aren't supposed to look similar.

I'm honestly fine with this. I still think Hughes is the top talent in the draft, but if he can slip it'll help the Canucks who may not end up with the 1st overall pick. I do think if the Canucks pick in that 2-5 range, they'll take him if he falls to them.

If Hughes doesn't fall, I'm perfectly happy with Kakko based on everything I'm seeing and reading so far. Dach looks very good and should be rocketing up the ranks. Newhook should be a top 10 pick, as should Krebs, Cozens, and don't sleep on Turcotte. Suzuki has to be shooting up the rankings as well, and we haven't even talked about Byram yet.

This year's top 10 is absolutely stacked. Here's my rankings as of right now:

1. Jack Hughes
2. Kaapo Kakko
3. Kirby Dach
4. Alex Turcotte
5. Alex Newhook
6. Dylan Cozens
7. Ryan Suzuki
8. Bowen Byram
9. Raphael Lavoie
10. Peyton Krebs

I would like to get more information on Broberg, York, and Soderstrom as admittedly I don't know much about the defensemen in this draft yet.

 

[CanuckCity]

Okay so its pretty clear we're getting a great forward with our 1st. My concern is still the back-end though.

What are we looking at as far as potential top4 dmen with our 2nd though?? Preferably a righty.

 

[THE Green Man]

Okay so its pretty clear we're getting a great forward with our 1st. My concern is still the back-end though.

What are we looking at as far as potential top4 dmen with our 2nd though?? Preferably a righty.

Too early to really tell would be my guess. The one guy I'm intrigued by is Antonni Honka if we can get a mid-late first for Edler.