If Lafreniere was born a month earlier would he challenge Hughes for 2019 1st overall?

jj cale

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Jan 5, 2016
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He would challenge for number 1 at this point but I still don't know if he would take that spot from Hughes, who is still the consensus top pick this year.

It would be a battle, would have been fun to see how that shook out on draft day.
 

JLFGoNicsGo11

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Apr 21, 2018
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Lafreniere> Hughes, Q>>> USHL
Hahahaha you People kill me Hughes plays D1 colleges & is almost averaging 2 points a game in his career so far in the USHL & at the USNTDP 5’10 is not “ridiculously small” ???? I’m a huge fan of Laf’s too , but right now he’s not on Hughes level. Can’t wait till this years World Juniors
 

IHaveNoCreativity

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Hahahaha you People kill me Hughes plays D1 colleges & is almost averaging 2 points a game in his career so far in the USHL & at the USNTDP 5’10 is not “ridiculously small” ???? I’m a huge fan of Laf’s too , but right now he’s not on Hughes level. Can’t wait till this years World Juniors
Hughes also plays Jr.A caliber teams and has a boat load of talent on his team... whereas Lafreniere is alone and has been alone his entire life.

He is abosoulutely on Hughes’s level and suggesting he isn’t is just ludicrous.
 

jbobell98

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Dec 14, 2017
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Hahahaha you People kill me Hughes plays D1 colleges & is almost averaging 2 points a game in his career so far in the USHL & at the USNTDP 5’10 is not “ridiculously small” ???? I’m a huge fan of Laf’s too , but right now he’s not on Hughes level. Can’t wait till this years World Juniors
To say either Hughes is better and its not close or that Lafreniere is better and its not close are both wrong.
 

NamesAreHardToChoose

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Sep 22, 2018
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Hahahaha you People kill me Hughes plays D1 colleges & is almost averaging 2 points a game in his career so far in the USHL & at the USNTDP 5’10 is not “ridiculously small” ???? I’m a huge fan of Laf’s too , but right now he’s not on Hughes level. Can’t wait till this years World Juniors


Yes, you're going to laugh at this year's World Juniors when next year for Lafreniere would be the same as this year for Hughes?

This World Juniors won't change anything for the comparison of the two unless Laf outscores Hughes in which case, does it even matter?

Not to mention the US team is clear favourites to win this year... That's not really a fair comparison with the playing time.


Neither is better than the other considering they're in different draft years. But with the production, you can't really sway either way considering Lafreniere also has less than half of the Talent Hughes has to play with at his disposal.
 
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scoutman1

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Yes, you're going to laugh at this year's World Juniors when next year for Lafreniere would be the same as this year for Hughes?

This World Juniors won't change anything for the comparison of the two unless Laf outscores Hughes in which case, does it even matter?

Not to mention the US team is clear favourites to win this year... That's not really a fair comparison with the playing time.


Neither is better than the other considering they're in different draft years. But with the production, you can't really sway either way considering Lafreniere also has less than half of the Talent Hughes has to play with at his disposal.
less than half the talent Hughes has to play with? have you ever seen Lafreniere play?
 

Gold Standard

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Sep 7, 2018
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He would be in the conversation for 1OA, but debatable if in fact he would be taken with the 1st. pick. I'm not yet convinced he would. Look forward to the WJHC and the prospect of a high stakes winner take all showdown in a gold medal game. That's if Lafreniere makes the Canadian team. Hockey Canada has a history of leaving highly touted undrafted 17 year olds at home. That would be a shame. That potential match up, Canada v USA and Lafreniere v Hughes is really the only interest I have in this year's tournament.
 
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Roof Daddy

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Apr 1, 2008
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I think Lafreniere goes 1st. If he’s born a month earlier and eligible for the 2019 draft, he’d also be in his 3rd year in the Q instead of 2nd. Hard to predict what the numbers would look like, but you’d have to think an additional year of coaching at the major junior level and higher level of competition sees him develop more.

With that said, I like the poster who made the Butterfly Effect comment. It’s kind of silly to hypothesize based on something like changing a player’s birthday/draft year.

He’ll be the slam dunk 1st OA in 2020, and that’s all anyone should care about.
 

UNITEDSTATESOFHOCKEY

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Jan 5, 2018
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I'm inclined to still go with Hughes, but Lafreniere is making his case and my mind can be changed after this year's World Juniors.

So 5 games in a 10 day tournament where 2-3 of the games are lay up games would change your mind on a player as opposed to a players body of work from start to finishing in 60-70 games?!?! ok well that's an interesting way of evaluating talent to say the least! Certainly the WJC performance can factor in but IDK about changing minds....
 

wasup

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Mar 21, 2018
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Hughes also plays Jr.A caliber teams and has a boat load of talent on his team... whereas Lafreniere is alone and has been alone his entire life.

He is abosoulutely on Hughes’s level and suggesting he isn’t is just ludicrous.
junior A ? when was the last time you watched a USHL game , 10 years ago , they have more kids drafted than any other junior league in the world . You are reading some thing that use to be true but not any more .
 
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IHaveNoCreativity

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May 5, 2012
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Somewhere in Quebec.
junior A ? when was the last time you watched a USHL game , 10 years ago , they have more kids drafted than any other junior league in the world . You are reading some thing that use to be true but not any more .

If only that were true...

Also I didn’t say anything about the amount of talent it produced... I said it wasn’t better than Major Junior hockey which it isn’t.
 

newfy

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Jul 28, 2010
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junior A ? when was the last time you watched a USHL game , 10 years ago , they have more kids drafted than any other junior league in the world . You are reading some thing that use to be true but not any more .

The USHL is a junior A league, its not the same quality as the CHL at all. Any good players leave for the NCAA so they dont retain their talent. Cool, K'Andre Miller got drafted from there last year. How strong is he making that league now?
 
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13 others

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Apr 18, 2007
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Hahahaha you People kill me Hughes plays D1 colleges & is almost averaging 2 points a game in his career so far in the USHL & at the USNTDP 5’10 is not “ridiculously small” ???? I’m a huge fan of Laf’s too , but right now he’s not on Hughes level. Can’t wait till this years World Juniors
He's pretty much the same height as his brother Quinn which is """5'10""".
 

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