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C Jack Hughes - USNTDP (2019 Draft) Part II

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Thebesthockey

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Aug 6, 2013
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please
no more comparaisons with McDavid and Eichel


not even remotely close


now you can compare j huges to eichel et company

but not McD
 
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newfy

newfy

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VictorLustig said:
Outside of fans, has anyone actually said the gap is getting smaller?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure it was posted earlier in this thread but someone from the HockeyNews or THW or something along those lines came out and said its looking like hes not going to be as consensus as everybody thought going into the year. Hes still ranked number one but there could be some competition that makes it interesting. I think hes still number one, and people saying hes 3rd is just a hot take but theres a few guys making noise that depending how the rest of the season goes are good enough to challenge him.

3 centers with legit NHL size.

Kakko playing center now in a mens league and pretty productive for a guy his age.

Dach 6'4, tearing up the WHL after a big u17 last year.

Cozens 6'4, producing at a really good clip for a draft eligible.

Hughes 5'8(?), numbers have really appeared to stagnate. He didnt jump to a higher quality league and is playing in one that is kinda weak compared to all the others.

In the past scouts have said that certain guys should challenge bonafide projected number one picks who were projected first from a young age and they were generally right. Hedman might be better than Tavares now (theyre very close), no one would bat an eye if Seguin went first over Hall after multiple point per game or higher seasons. Nolan Patrick lost his spot as number one and now Hischier looks like he deserved it (jury still out here though). Some people said Eichel could challenge McDavid but I wonder now if that was just some American hype at work, could be the same thing making people think Hughes is untouchable while other prospects creep up on him.

I think Hughes is still number one but hes left a couple chinks in his armour. I think the WJC will play a big role forhim this year because the league hes in right now. Hes not a perfect prospect like McDavid so some guys might make it close. Like it or not, Hughes value at number one is purely high end point production so his production this year should be a bit concerning. Still a lot of time to turn it up a notch or two though
 
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Llamamoto

Llamamoto

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Jack Hughes reminds me of Gaudreau. Soft, and bad defensively. You can't leak goals at the same rate as you score them.
 
Kaako Kappo

Kaako Kappo

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newfy said:
Pretty sure it was posted earlier in this thread but someone from the HockeyNews or THW or something along those lines came out and said its looking like hes not going to be as consensus as everybody thought going into the year. Hes still ranked number one but there could be some competition that makes it interesting. I think hes still number one, and people saying hes 3rd is just a hot take but theres a few guys making noise that depending how the rest of the season goes are good enough to challenge him.

3 centers with legit NHL size.

Kakko playing center now in a mens league and pretty productive for a guy his age.

Dach 6'4, tearing up the WHL after a big u17 last year.

Cozens 6'4, producing at a really good clip for a draft eligible.

Hughes 5'8(?), numbers have really appeared to stagnate. He didnt jump to a higher quality league and is playing in one that is kinda weak compared to all the others.

In the past scouts have said that certain guys should challenge bonafide projected number one picks who were projected first from a young age and they were generally right. Hedman might be better than Tavares now (theyre very close), no one would bat an eye if Seguin went first over Hall after multiple point per game or higher seasons. Nolan Patrick lost his spot as number one and now Hischier looks like he deserved it (jury still out here though). Some people said Eichel could challenge McDavid but I wonder now if that was just some American hype at work, could be the same thing making people think Hughes is untouchable while other prospects creep up on him.

I think Hughes is still number one but hes left a couple chinks in his armour. I think the WJC will play a big role forhim this year because the league hes in right now. Hes not a perfect prospect like McDavid so some guys might make it close. Like it or not, Hughes value at number one is purely high end point production so his production this year should be a bit concerning. Still a lot of time to turn it up a notch or two though
Click to expand...
Kakko is not playing center..
 
tony d

tony d

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I think his World Junior's performance will be telling. I think if he does well there he'll erase some of the doubts about him. Size doesn't always matter.
 
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newfy

newfy

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Paul Maurice said:
Kakko is not playing center..
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He started the season on the wing kinda similar to Kotkaniemi last year but hes a center by trade and has been moved to center since the start of the season from the wing. Not sure if he'll stay at center for the whole year but hes definitely being projected as a center at the NHL level and will see some playing time there on and off at the very least all year

 

TheFinnishTrap

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newfy said:
He started the season on the wing kinda similar to Kotkaniemi last year but hes a center by trade and has been moved to center since the start of the season from the wing. Not sure if he'll stay at center for the whole year but hes definitely being projected as a center at the NHL level and will see some playing time there on and off at the very least all year

Click to expand...

I don't know where you have gotten that idea, but Kakko has not been playing as a center in Liiga. I think he had a couple games with the U20 or U18 squads and the that one-off CHL game as a center. Him playing center is possible, but currently I see him mainly as a winger prospect.
 
Ippenator

Ippenator

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newfy said:
He started the season on the wing kinda similar to Kotkaniemi last year but hes a center by trade and has been moved to center since the start of the season from the wing. Not sure if he'll stay at center for the whole year but hes definitely being projected as a center at the NHL level and will see some playing time there on and off at the very least all year

Click to expand...

He was only tried as a center in a meaningless CHL game (TPS was already eliminated). In Liiga he has been playing only winger so far. Unless I have missed a game where he was played as a center. I doubt that happened at least yet.
 
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LoveHateLeafs

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Jul 7, 2009
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newfy said:
He started the season on the wing kinda similar to Kotkaniemi last year but hes a center by trade and has been moved to center since the start of the season from the wing. Not sure if he'll stay at center for the whole year but hes definitely being projected as a center at the NHL level and will see some playing time there on and off at the very least all year

Click to expand...

I followed Kakko's progress very closely last season in the Nuorten SM-Liiga, and I can't recall a single time that he played centre. Other than one-off things like that CHL game, he's always played wing as far as I know.
 
newfy

newfy

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Ippenator said:
He was only tried as a center in a meaningless CHL game (TPS was already eliminated). In Liiga he has been playing only winger so far. Unless I have missed a game where he was played as a center. I doubt that happened at least yet.
Click to expand...

So I've obviously got bad information then lol

Hes obviously played at least one game at center though in that CHL game which is the tweet I posted the link to. I forget where I read that hes played a couple of games there and that he was projecting as an NHL center but I'll have to try to find it. Not that I think youre lying but trying to wipe some of the egg off my face lol
 
Ippenator

Ippenator

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newfy said:
So I've obviously got bad information then lol

Hes obviously played at least one game at center though in that CHL game which is the tweet I posted the link to. I forget where I read that hes played a couple of games there and that he was projecting as an NHL center but I'll have to try to find it. Not that I think youre lying but trying to wipe some of the egg off my face lol
Click to expand...
You are right in that that around the same time he was playing a couple of junior national team games where I think he was also tried as center. There was a lot of talk about if he should really be played as center, as the Finnish men’s national team’s coach Jukka Jalonen (WHC and WJC gold medal coach from the past) was openly criticizing that Finnish teams don’t often use their most talented forwards as centermen, and at the same time he strongly said that Kaapo Kakko for example should play as a center.

So honestly you were not completely wrong about there being some games where he was a center and definitely discussions about him being a center after all. Hopefully he would have a great rest of the season and get picked by Jalonen in the spring to play in the men’s national team. He would most probably try him as a center and give him some trust and responsibility if he has had a great spring.
 
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