Talent alone does not do the trick. Zegras is uber talanted assist guy, yes, but Hughes was (is?) much more rounded offensive guy. Zegras have to develop a more dangerous shot and more explosiveness to his stride if he want`s to not be a one trick pony. I have every belief that Z will work on that, he seems to have a great drive and understanding of what he needs to work on. But I believe Z is still behind Hughes in his development. For what it`s worth I do not understand why the Devils kept Hughes up for so long, glad he didn`t get injured.
That’s why I said Hughes was more ready. Talent and readiness are different, and hell, we’ve even seen cases where the more ready prospect may not end up being the better player. Some players end up looking better because they are ahead of the curve at the time of the draft, but have less room for growth. I think Hughes has plenty of talent, but I’m not completely convinced, yet, that the advantage he has over Zegras is talent vs. just being more ready. At least not based on what I’ve seen,
Agree Zegras needs to keep working to improve himself and expand his repertoire.
Also agree that New Jersey’s actions with Hughes were questionable. I didn’t see enough of him to say he struggled, but it didn’t seem like he was really fully ready and comfortable either.