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

[crowi]

You’d have to know who ijuka is to understand why I brought up Kakko. But you could say the same about Hughes. He’s looked good when paired with other talented players. He makes perfect crisp passes to players like Simmonds and Wood and even Hall and they just can’t finish.

You brought up Kakko because your guy is sucking to deflect.

 

[Telos]

While he never struck me as some sort of Patrick Kane talent, it is still way too early to bust him out. He has the skillset to become an elite player in the league. Just needs a bit more seasoning, to bulk up and add some strength, and a little bit more support. He may bloom late, but I'd be surprised if he didn't at least become productive on a Taylor Hall level.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

And NJ fans ready to over-react yet and trade him to MN?

 

[Motte and Bailey]

I'll say it again, the Devils are the new Oilers

Hughes is a good bet to be at minimum a 60+ point center, and I assume he'll still end up the best player in his draft class.

He'll probably never be a top-10 player in the league though. Won't ever be as good a player as Matthews/Draisaitl/Eichel/Barkov/MacKinnon etc., so it's disappointing for a #1 overall.

He's somewhere between RNH and Marner, if that makes sense

He isn't Connor McDavid, that's for sure, but I think Jack Hughes is becoming super underrated right now. But if you're going to compare his team with the Oilers then it would stand to reason that he would be a much better player on another team. We've seen this with Hall and nearly every other player that left the Oilers and found success shortly thereafter. If New Jersey can turn it around or he gets traded/leaves I see a more stronger and more mature Jack Hughes being a force in the league and absolutely pushing himself into the conversation for top 10 player in the league. The talent is there.

 

[HuGo Sham]

hab fan ready to step in and say be patient. isn't he the youngest player in the NHL - as kotkaniemi was last year?
he'll be fine

 

[ottawa]

hab fan ready to step in and say be patient. isn't he the youngest player in the NHL - as kotkaniemi was last year?
he'll be fine

Yeah, because Kotkaniemi did so great this year.

- Another habs fan

 

[HuGo Sham]

Yeah, because Kotkaniemi did so great this year.

- Another habs fan

LAST year. He regressed, he was rushed. it happens.
the comparison was year 1 vs year 2, both still physically growing and learning.

reading skills?

f***

 

[Voight]

Even though a lot of immature Devils fans like ****ting on Nolan Patrick and some have even insulted the disorder hes currently fighting back from, I will take the high road and give my honest opinion..

Jack Hughes is going to be fine. More than fine. Hes going to be very good. It may take 1-2 more years and more support around him, but id be shocked if he doesnt have a 70 point season before hes 22.

Hughes is a guy who really could've used a D + 1 season either in the NCAA or overseas. I get why he was pushed to the NHL right away but still, you don't always need to rush your #1 picks

 

[Dialamo]

Even though a lot of immature Devils fans like ****ting on Nolan Patrick and some have even insulted the disorder hes currently fighting back from, I will take the high road and give my honest opinion..

Jack Hughes is going to be fine. More than fine. Hes going to be very good. It may take 1-2 more years and more support around him, but id be shocked if he doesnt have a 70 point season before hes 22.

Who was making fun of Patrick like that? Absolutely mean for something that is not his fault. I haven't read through most of this thread so I may have missed something, but I bet most Devils fans (and myself included) don't condone that crap and would call those people out.

Yep I agree Hughes will be fine but I think it's gonna take another season or so to see some 70+ point production.

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

People are too impatient with 1OA picks, not all of them pan out immediately. You can obviously see that the skill is there, he needs to adjust to the game and get some size. A season or two and he will be a star, it's imminent.

 

[Vagrant]

part of the issue with jack is that this is the first adversity he has faced in his hockey career. he's learning a lot about himself right now and what it takes to be the best in the world. the fact that he's the size he is and the highest level of play he has ever been in for any consistent amount of time was the ushl, that's remarkable and perhaps reckless to be fair. those national development teams are basically the dream team for players aged 15-18. he's played with the best against the worst his entire career. anyone who has ever had the level change on them in any sport will attest to how abrupt the adjustment can be. from one season you're at the top of the heap and you're dunking on everyone and there's talk you're the next patrick kane, and then you're pulled from the comfort of that dominance and those poor habits and inserted directly into the best league in the world. if there was ever a kid that needed a year in the ncaa to post 2 points per game, this is the guy. it's just that with the way of things now, agents would never allow it. they want the clock to start right away especially when they believe they have an elite client. i think the year matthews spent in the nla was formidable for him and he came into the nhl with a certain degree of authority knowing that his tools were good enough to beat grown men. plus, he was able to try things out and see what he had time to do and what he didn't and spent a summer working towards being ready for the league with those things in mind.

svechnikov had the same adjustment. i remember watching him try things that were just so obviously not going to work at this level and grow frustrated at his lack of success. he needed his first year to work all that weakness out of his game and honestly, his game and body was much more developed than hughes. you can imagine how far that means he has to come over the summer, but as played he needs the nhl time. the devils aren't playing for the moment so they can deal with these growing pains. if he's as good as he looked pre draft, we'll start to see that next season.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

For me, he looks exact (read:pretty much) the same since i first saw him almost 2 years ago at the WJC-18
- don't get me started about his last year WC performance....

I said it year ago (before i was kicked out from the Jack Hughes thread) and i say it again;
he needs to change (adjust) his game to work for pro level, what worked as a junior, won't work (necessary) as a pro.
He hasn't developed at all (or maybe only slightly has) from his first USNTDP season, (2017-2018).
He looks and plays exactly the same way now what he played back then.

As a pro:

He thinks the game way too slowly, + his hockey IQ is not as high what it seemed to be,
he isn't physically ready (duh) and his shot is not pro caliber, its a semi-muffin (at the moment).
(although improved quite a bit)

He needs to work on his transition game (n z->o z), his o z game is too cerebral, too slow, (not talking about skating)
needs to make it more simple. I think the NHL pace is just too fast for him at the moment. (not talking about skating)
He still gives away the puck too easily, and not always due to fact that he is still physically immature, other reasons as well.

Then is the defensive zone aspects, but he is an offensive minded player, so its a moo point to go there.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Well Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Nico Hischier didn’t need that excuse, they were all about the same size and weight that Jack Hughes is at now and they dominated the NHL in their rookie years or at least doubled Jack Hughes’ production

Crosby walked into the league on tree trunk legs with insane core strength. He’s a completely different animal.

 

[ninetyeight]

I’m not gonna lie I was a little concerned few weeks ago, and there’s been so many great nhl ready top3 picks in the recent years, that we all kinda expect that for all of them now. But every player’s journey is different and if you look at the past, it was way more common for top3 picks Not to play in the NHL in their d+1 year. And even those who did, didn’t really put out points like McDavid, Eichel, Matthews, Laine..

Hughes has looked good after moving into the first line, and looks good on the PP. Seems to have regained some confidence and doesn’t try to force hard plays as much. Don’t know what happens when Hischier comes back, if he goes back to playing with Wood and Simmonds, or whose even left in the team after deadline.

Considering all the late bloomers we’ve seen, I have no doubt that Hughes will become an elite player once he bulks up and figures things out. He might have the worst rookie season for a #1 pick, but if he eventually becomes a ppg player that won’t matter. Stefan and Yakupov never improved, but in the bigger picture they are the anomaly not the norm.

Even though a lot of immature Devils fans like ****ting on Nolan Patrick and some have even insulted the disorder hes currently fighting back from, I will take the high road and give my honest opinion.

I haven’t seen any of that, quite the opposite I think every hockey fan wishes a quick recovery for him and wants him to do good after everything he’s been through.

If anything the devils fans are just glad they drafted Hischier and don’t have to go through the same as the Flyers fans. That’s not a knock on Patrick, it’s just very unfortunate.

 

[IamNotADancer]

part of the issue with jack is that this is the first adversity he has faced in his hockey career. he's learning a lot about himself right now and what it takes to be the best in the world. the fact that he's the size he is and the highest level of play he has ever been in for any consistent amount of time was the ushl, that's remarkable and perhaps reckless to be fair. those national development teams are basically the dream team for players aged 15-18. he's played with the best against the worst his entire career. anyone who has ever had the level change on them in any sport will attest to how abrupt the adjustment can be. from one season you're at the top of the heap and you're dunking on everyone and there's talk you're the next patrick kane, and then you're pulled from the comfort of that dominance and those poor habits and inserted directly into the best league in the world. if there was ever a kid that needed a year in the ncaa to post 2 points per game, this is the guy. it's just that with the way of things now, agents would never allow it. they want the clock to start right away especially when they believe they have an elite client. i think the year matthews spent in the nla was formidable for him and he came into the nhl with a certain degree of authority knowing that his tools were good enough to beat grown men. plus, he was able to try things out and see what he had time to do and what he didn't and spent a summer working towards being ready for the league with those things in mind.

svechnikov had the same adjustment. i remember watching him try things that were just so obviously not going to work at this level and grow frustrated at his lack of success. he needed his first year to work all that weakness out of his game and honestly, his game and body was much more developed than hughes. you can imagine how far that means he has to come over the summer, but as played he needs the nhl time. the devils aren't playing for the moment so they can deal with these growing pains. if he's as good as he looked pre draft, we'll start to see that next season.

This is something many people don't realize is a major change for young players and not many are able to adjust. This happens in every sport.

I've played through a lot of youth teams that dominated their peers. We would win our leagues unbeaten or at the very least always be on top of our league standings. Once we moved on to senior level play and higher divisions you could tell which players were able to adjust and cope with adversity.

I've seen MANY players who flat out quit playing as soon as we didn't have a winning record year in year out.
Hughes and Kakko will be fine.
When I was 18/19 I was still playing PS1, worrying about homework and wondering if I'm wasting my time with sports.
These kids have loooong careers ahead of them

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Threads like this will look funny in 2-3 years.

 

[tucker3434]

I’m sure he’ll be fine long term, but in hindsight, it seems like he should have been the first 1OA not to make the jump immediately.

 

[philip]

It's that famous saying isn't it, 'if at first you don't succeed, then you're a bum'

 

[Jerzey Devil]

You brought up Kakko because your guy is sucking to deflect.

Another Finn. You guys were really loud before the season started.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Hughes will be fine, going from the US Developmental team to the NHL is perhaps the biggest jump in talent level any NHL player has ever had to adjust to.

There are so many times where he's just half a second too slow pulling the trigger or moving through the slot. His timing will come.

If he can work on his core/lower body strength he'll be unstoppable.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Oh give me a break here, Hughes is a rookie and forget about his stats. He shouldn't even be in the NHL this season. but honestly he's too good to go back to JR. and I dunno if he was eligible for AHL. Hughes has the body of a 15 year old. He will bulk up this summer and come back much better.
Look at Joe Thornton in his 1st NHL season.

1997-98

Boston Bruins

NHL

55

3

4

7

19

-6

|

Playoffs

6

0

0

0

9

0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Don't start throwing him under the bus. he is going to be amazing.

 

[ElLeetch]

I’m sure he’ll be fine long term, but in hindsight, it seems like he should have been the first 1OA not to make the jump immediately.

Hughes and Kakko will both still be great NHLers, but both should have started in the minors/EU.

 

[jonlin]

2012 was arguable the last time when picks 1&2 were this un-impactfull from the gate, Yakupov-Murray werent exactly superstars either. I do think that both Hughes and Kakko will get it eventually. Both have had a really rough start though and I´d like seeing both in the AHL. Look what it did to Rantanen&Draisaitl...

 

[Hextallent63]

35 points on a team like Jersey is right now from a rookie isn't bad. It's not a good idea to hold up a rookie to superstars rookie seasons. Everyone progresses differently. I think Jersey is in no way looking at him as a failure this season . If he's putting up 35 points in his 4th or 5th season then.....

 

[StumpyTown]

I've only seen a handful of games from Hughes this year. The guy definitely has a skillset. I agree with a poster above that he is learning about playing at this level right now. He has never consistently had to face the calibre of opponents as he has this year. He's trying to make plays that he can get away with against junior guys, but not pros. That isn't a knock on his skills, it just means he needs a little time to adjust and learn what works and what doesn't. That being said I don't think he'll be a superstar, but he'll still be a top line player in this league.