Player Discussion Quinn Hughes, Pt. VI

[likash]

Hello:
Habs fan; I come in peace. I enjoy the draft and remember the debate about our 3rd overall pick in 2018. I remember Trevor Timmins, who is responsible for our draft, saying a player of Hughes’ size will always have problems defending, which I found odd for a head scout to say publicly as it might give the player more motivation, but I guess he was preparing the fanbase for not drafting Hughes. Do you think Kotkaniemi could one day be more valuable than Hughes? He has improved his skating but he is still quite weak, and they shelter him a lot. If he bulks up to 220 lbs, could be one day surpass Hughes?

Nope. Hughes has game breaking ability. He will improve his defence with experience. If Kotkaniemi reaches Pettersson's level then you can say he can surpass Hughes.

Habs are beating the Canucks because they have a balanced and deep team. Also they have a very good coach.

 

[EmilN1]

Yes.

I think all Habs players are eventually going to be better than Canucks players.

Is that the feedback that you're looking for?

I do appreciate the humour.

 

[Breakers]

Kotkaniemi is a lottery pick

I better hope he turns out decent

 

[Nucker101]

Hello:
Habs fan; I come in peace. I enjoy the draft and remember the debate about our 3rd overall pick in 2018. I remember Trevor Timmins, who is responsible for our draft, saying a player of Hughes’ size will always have problems defending, which I found odd for a head scout to say publicly as it might give the player more motivation, but I guess he was preparing the fanbase for not drafting Hughes. Do you think Kotkaniemi could one day be more valuable than Hughes? He has improved his skating but he is still quite weak, and they shelter him a lot. If he bulks up to 220 lbs, could he one day surpass Hughes?

Yes 100%

 

[Get North]

It looked like Hughes was going to be a Norris trophy calibre player in the playoffs but he looks so weak defensively this season. He's the best skater on the ice most of the time so he needs to figure out how to use that to defend, he's small but still better than most players on the ice. If he has to switch to smaller players like how they do in basketball, then they gotta figure it out.

He's too good to suck. And he needs to be dominant 5on5, not just a PP magician like Brian Campbell. I'm expecting Duncan Keith/Dan Boyle.

 

[VanJack]

It's simple really. Hughes is trying to do too much. And the fact that the Canucks blueline looks like a bucket brigade trying to fight a high-rise fire, is sapping his confidence.

Of course this is the point where the veteran d-men like Myers, Schmidt and Edler step in to pick him up. Except that they can't pick anyone up, unless it's their fannies off the ice.

Hughes is on an island out there.....and sadly it looks like it's going to get worse before it ever gets better. He's point machine on the pp....but five-on-five he's getting exposed on a lot of nights. I just hope his self-confidence doesn't take a massive nosedive.

 

[likash]

He's too good to suck. And he needs to be dominant 5on5, not just a PP magician like Brian Campbell. I'm expecting Duncan Keith/Dan Boyle.

Bro, Brian Campbell made GudBrasson look like a competent nhl defender. That alone makes him a special player. Imagine playing Hughes with Gudbranson. Hughes will never be good on pure defence and he does not need to be. He needs to be decent. He is here for his offence.

The talk of Keith in nonsense. Hughes looks to be about 1,75cm/5,8-9 at most. He is a small but shifty dude. His size prevents him from playing excellent to elite defence.

 

[CanucksSayEh]

Thought he was pretty good today. He skates miles more than any other player, everyone defers to him. Highest risk, highest reward. Making mistakes, but the rest of the D is even worse, doing less and still get shelled.
Hughes looks like he might lead the team in points this year, pretty sad for our forward group.

Motte is like the only forward playing good 'team' defense. Hog the only one noticeable every game. Team looks like they've never met before. It's like ground hog day, without the memory carrying over.

 

[Get North]

Bro, Brian Campbell made GudBrasson look like a competent nhl defender. That alone makes him a special player. Imagine playing Hughes with Gudbranson. Hughes will never be good on pure defence and he does not need to be. He needs to be decent. He is here for his offence.

The talk of Keith in nonsense. Hughes looks to be about 1,75cm/5,8-9 at most. He is a small but shifty dude. His size prevents him from playing excellent to elite defence.

Hughes is still a kid there's no doubt about it. He's gotta get gain some grown man strength like Keith who is 37 years old now or Campbell. They have similar height, so he can be a sturdy player as those 2.

He's 21. McDavid and Crosby hit their peak after 25, so I will stay optimistic on Hughes future for at least 3-4 years more.

 

[lawrence]

Hello:
Habs fan; I come in peace. I enjoy the draft and remember the debate about our 3rd overall pick in 2018. I remember Trevor Timmins, who is responsible for our draft, saying a player of Hughes’ size will always have problems defending, which I found odd for a head scout to say publicly as it might give the player more motivation, but I guess he was preparing the fanbase for not drafting Hughes. Do you think Kotkaniemi could one day be more valuable than Hughes? He has improved his skating but he is still quite weak, and they shelter him a lot. If he bulks up to 220 lbs, could he one day surpass Hughes?

everyone has surpassed Hughes. nothing to worry about bro. You guys dodged a bullet not picking up Hughes with that pick.

 

[PM]

Hughes is a fantastic offensive dman but he’s likely going to always need a solid defensive dman to pair with so he can play his game. He will still probably fill out a bit more but he’s quite a bit smaller than guys like Duncan Keith and Erik Karlsson. Expecting him to be as good as either of those guys is also going to lead to disappointment. We probably need to draft/trade a new Tanev for him which was the perfect complimentary player for his style and size. Too bad we let the old Tanev go for nothing.

 

[BoHorvat 53]

Hello:
Habs fan; I come in peace. I enjoy the draft and remember the debate about our 3rd overall pick in 2018. I remember Trevor Timmins, who is responsible for our draft, saying a player of Hughes’ size will always have problems defending, which I found odd for a head scout to say publicly as it might give the player more motivation, but I guess he was preparing the fanbase for not drafting Hughes. Do you think Kotkaniemi could one day be more valuable than Hughes? He has improved his skating but he is still quite weak, and they shelter him a lot. If he bulks up to 220 lbs, could he one day surpass Hughes?

To be brutally honest, there’s no one on your roster at the moment that could surpass Hughes in terms of play. You guys got a nice supporting cast (which is where Benning has failed Hughes and Pettersson), but no one on the level of those 2.

 

[BigHitter67]

To be brutally honest, there’s no one on your roster at the moment that could surpass Hughes in terms of play. You guys got a nice supporting cast (which is where Benning has failed Hughes and Pettersson), but no one on the level of those 2.

I have no dog in the Suzuki vs Petterson comparison but suspect many would be surprised by results of a poll of NHL GMs (IF one was taken) on who they would select in a 2017 draft re-do

 

[BigHitter67]

[

 

[clay]

Bro, Brian Campbell made GudBrasson look like a competent nhl defender. That alone makes him a special player. Imagine playing Hughes with Gudbranson. Hughes will never be good on pure defence and he does not need to be. He needs to be decent. He is here for his offence.

The talk of Keith in nonsense. Hughes looks to be about 1,75cm/5,8-9 at most. He is a small but shifty dude. His size prevents him from playing excellent to elite defence.

I don't think his size prevents him of being a good defender. Look at Stecher.

 

[Fatass]

Quinn is starting to pull away in .d scoring. Just awesome. On his way to his first of many Norris nominations. Kid is a phenom.

 

[canuckking1]

I have no dog in the Suzuki vs Petterson comparison but suspect many would be surprised by results of a poll of NHL GMs (IF one was taken) on who they would select in a 2017 draft re-do

I doubt it. Pettersson has been way better most of his career. 10 games doesn't really change anything. I mean Tyler toffoli is leading the league in goals and top 10 in points I'm sure most wouldn't consider him elite because of a hot 10 games.

 

[Intangibos]

Just because you hope for him to become a #1 defenceman doesn't mean we have to automatically treat him like one.

He should be getting soft minutes and loads of powerplay time so he can take risks and develop his offensive game at an NHL level. If you insist on playing him like he's already arrived and there is no need to shelter him, that's fine, but you accept his gaffes or you ruin his development by destroying his willingness to experiment and push the boundaries.

 

[BigHitter67]

I doubt it. Pettersson has been way better most of his career. 10 games doesn't really change anything. I mean Tyler toffoli is leading the league in goals and top 10 in points I'm sure most wouldn't consider him elite because of a hot 10 games.

Last comment from me on this as its obvious way off topic for the thread.
Petterson on to the scene with a bang in his rookie year while Suzuki stayed in jr in their draft+1 seasons ( reminder that EP is almost one year older )- but if we start the comparisons last season ( suzuki's rookie season ) and very early into this season....the gulf is NOT as wide as some might like to think.

 

[Rumsfeld]

I have no dog in the Suzuki vs Petterson comparison but suspect many would be surprised by results of a poll of NHL GMs (IF one was taken) on who they would select in a 2017 draft re-do

Lol ok

 

[canuckking1]

Last comment from me on this as its obvious way off topic for the thread.
Petterson on to the scene with a bang in his rookie year while Suzuki stayed in jr in their draft+1 seasons ( reminder that EP is almost one year older )- but if we start the comparisons last season ( suzuki's rookie season ) and very early into this season....the gulf is NOT as wide as some might like to think.

Pettersson’s rookie season was 66 points in 71 games. That destroyed whatever Suzuki did in his rookie season and likely what he’s going to do this season. 25 point difference in the same amount of games with also double the goals. If we look at last season, Pettersson had 85 points in 86 games and was PPG+ in the playoffs. Suzuki will have to a lot more to close the gigantic gap than be hot for just ten games. That’s an enormous gulf no matter which way you slice it. Even the Habs GM wouldn’t take Suzuki.

 

[likash]

Pettersson is a franchise center. Not even Habs homers would take Suzuki over Petterson. It's like Canucks fans taking Kesler over Crosby. Pettersson is a dominant player at 6"2 and maybe 80 kg with gear on. Once he goes up to 90-95 kg he will be tank. He should try some of Nate Schmidt's suplements.

 

[WTG]

I have no dog in the Suzuki vs Petterson comparison but suspect many would be surprised by results of a poll of NHL GMs (IF one was taken) on who they would select in a 2017 draft re-do

What? I like Suzuki, but no GM in the league would take him over Pettersson at this stage.

 

[Rumsfeld]

But you guys he has no dog in this comparison, he's just trying to be super-duper objective.

 

[Blue and Green]

I don't think his size prevents him of being a good defender. Look at Stecher.

Stecher is a third-pair player.