Jack Hughes on pace to have worst rookie season by a 1st overall forward since Patrik Stefan in 1999

[JThorne]

At the combine(outside in town) I walked past Shero and told him Hughes needs more weight. Guess he didn't listen...

 

[Ole Gil]

Svechnikov had 13 points through 29. He's now 14th in the league in scoring his sophomore year.

Hughes has 50 shots in 26 games, and is playing 16 minutes a night. That's a fine place to be.

 

[abo9]

Yes easily the worst of all time. Makes Yak look like Gretzky. Now if we win the draft lottery again this year we all good? Everyone will understand last year didn't count and not give Devils crap about it?

I mean we don't know how Hughes will turn out but it looks like you guys have it rough...2 pretty weak first OA to date.

Again, they are super young, so who knows.

 

[saluki]

Give the kid time.

You can't really compare anyone to Kane but I clearly remember the "lol- Hawks #1 overall pick can't play 5 on 5 NHL hockey" taunts back then. Points don't tell the whole story.

 

[Albatros]

Kids are given time in junior hockey.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

I feel bad for the Devils, both times they get the #1 overall pick its the year of Hischier vs Patrick and Hughes vs Kakko where there isn't a clear cute #1 overall player.
Had they gotten the first overall pick in 2016 & 2018 they'd have Matthews + Dahlin.

 

[razor8]

Give the kid time.

You can't really compare anyone to Kane but I clearly remember the "lol- Hawks #1 overall pick can't play 5 on 5 NHL hockey" taunts back then. Points don't tell the whole story.

Fact is Hughes is just not one of the better number one overalls in the last decade or so. He's going to be a fine player, but who the hell wouldn't take just about any other number one overall instead of him if given the choice. Sucks for the Devils, but it is what it is.

 

[Kiekura]

One or two great games and suddenly Hughes is on a great pace compared with some other 1st overalls instead of on a poorer pace.

One or two bad games and he is on even worse pace

But yeah seriously he hasn't looked as bad as people think when they read this thread tittle. He was just overhyped last summer so people had ridiculous expectations.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

He will figure it out. He's got high end skill.

 

[tony d]

I'm not as big on him as others are but I think he should still end up being a very good player.

 

[Blender]

One or two bad games and he is on even worse pace

But yeah seriously he hasn't looked as bad as people think when they read this thread tittle. He was just overhyped last summer so people had ridiculous expectations.

Funny, I was told all summer by detractors that he wasn't NHL ready and would have a 30-40 point season. Suddenly he's on that pace 26 games into the season and now the narrative has flipped to how he's way under expectations.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Neither he nor Kakko are pure goal scorers. More all around talents. The fact that both have struggled to put up a ton of points might be a bit disappointing but shouldn't be altogether surprising. They don't look out of place and are learning on the job. They'll get there.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Fact is Hughes is just not one of the better number one overalls in the last decade or so. He's going to be a fine player, but who the hell wouldn't take just about any other number one overall instead of him if given the choice. Sucks for the Devils, but it is what it is.

How do you determine who is one of the better number one overalls? Factually, at that?

 

[missionAvs]

Kid's washed up. Devils need to trade him off while they can get anything of value for him. Avs offer Nieto and Barberio. 2 for 1 deal where you're getting help on the back end and a perennial top 12 goal scoring winger in Nieto.

 

[cg98]

Tbf the Devils team this year is ass and he's the first player to go straight from the USHL to the NHL I believe. I wasn't expecting him to light the world on fire as a rookie.

 

[OKOptimistic]

Well, at least we know his NHL-readiness was greatly exaggerated. Hopefully he at least scores more than Ekblad or Dahlin, otherwise it'd be a little embarrassing.

I guess Kakko's (who played against men btw) NHL readiness was over-exaggerated too?

 

[Kiekura]

Funny, I was told all summer by detractors that he wasn't NHL ready and would have a 30-40 point season. Suddenly he's on that pace 26 games into the season and now the narrative has flipped to how he's way under expectations.

I was also told how he could be Patrik Kane level player.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

I was also told how he could be Patrik Kane level player.

He could be.

 

[tucker3434]

Fact is Hughes is just not one of the better number one overalls in the last decade or so. He's going to be a fine player, but who the hell wouldn't take just about any other number one overall instead of him if given the choice. Sucks for the Devils, but it is what it is.

Not one of the worst either. He’s probably in the middle 3rd. We had Yakupov, RNH, and Hischier in this decade.

 

[Jerzey Devil]

Finn = Finnish

Fin = One of the appendages of a fish, used to propel itself and to manoeuvre/maneuver. The fish's fins minimize water flow. A similar appendage of a cetacean or other marine animal.

To be fair ijuka swarms around Jack Hughes threads like a shark waiting to attack.

 

[Kiekura]

Not one of the worst either. He’s probably in the middle 3rd. We had Yakupov, RNH, and Hischier in this decade.

Hischier draft is pretty brutal. There was Makar, Heiskanen and Petterson

 

[tucker3434]

Hischier draft is pretty brutal. There was Makar, Heiskanen and Petterson

It was just not a good year to be picking 1OA. The Devils did well in taking Hischier over Patrick. But neither ever had Dahlin or Matthews upside.

I don’t know that Hughes does either, but he’s a whole lot closer. I don’t think he’ll be a bad 1OA pick.

 

[ijuka]

It was just not a good year to be picking 1OA. The Devils did well in taking Hischier over Patrick. But neither ever had Dahlin or Matthews upside.

It always puzzled me. Patrick was openly labeled as a potential 2nd line center. I don't understand why he was considered a #1OA or #2OA candidate if his projection's as a 2nd line center. And by the way, this is not hindsight as I thought the same thing for a long time. Even a year before he was drafted.

And it was a good year to be picking #1OA, the scouts just needed to do a better job. That's a dumb thing to say.

 

[jj cale]

Wait till about 2-3 years time, he will be an 80 pt player.

 

[tucker3434]

It always puzzled me. Patrick was openly labeled as a potential 2nd line center. I don't understand why he was considered a #1OA or #2OA candidate if his projection's as a 2nd line center. And by the way, this is not hindsight as I thought the same thing for a long time. Even a year before he was drafted.

And it was a good year to be picking #1OA, the scouts just needed to do a better job. That's a dumb thing to say.

He was NHL ready.

There was nobody on the board that was a slam dunk to give you 60 points the following season or step immediately into your top 4. A lot of drafts have that caliber of player available at #1. So yeah, bad year to pick number 1. With the benefit of hindsight, we can easily see they should have taken a guy like Pettersson, but they didn’t have that. What if he ends up as Elias Lindholm instead?