Quote (Secksii @ Mar 29 2019 07:27am)
As much as kakko seems really promising and has the preferable body frame, i still think hughes is still #1.
kakko is dominating against men, but it's liiga where most of the players in that league failed to make it in SHL,KHL,NHL etc.
it's a wider rink, almost non-existent physical league so fighting along the boards isn't as tough like the NA style, the system there is more focused on skills/shooting and less on grinding/hitting etc. Most of its top scorers in the league are 5'10-6' with 180lbs on avg. men most of them being rands and unlikely to be drafted to the NHL.
Hughes is 5'10 168lbs, and has over 2.0+ ppg pace which is now higher than matthews, along with other notable stars in NHL currently like kessel,p. kane, eichel, keller, and more from USHL. He is also a year younger than his competition, and it's only a year or few months difference, but that's huge at his age and he's always been playing against older competition due to his high skill lvl. USHL is also a much more physical league than liiga, they're prepping these kids to make the NHL and has similar style of play. These "teens" on avg are 5'10 170lbs and still chance to grow as they're 17-18yrs old. Some of the top scoring kids are to be drafted 1st round this year to NHL, like boldy, turcotte,zegras etc. Also NHL is a lot more forgiving than the past about their small body frame, debrincat, gaudreau, kane, krug, marchand, point, zucarello, kucherov, marner are all doing fine and they're similar in frame or even lighter than jack hughes while being older and fully grown.
but yeah, 2oa is lottery too in a sense you don't have to make the choice who to pick and take who's not picked with no pressure. I feel like either players are good enough to make an impact in the NHL and there's really no risk picking either one, kinda like matthews/laine. Dream would be lolnucks winning 1oa or 2oa, and taking hughes and reunite him with his bro, then shift petey to his original wing position.
baertschi/leivo/pearson - horvat - boeser
goldie - hughes - petey
virt - gaudette - roussel
motte - beagle - eriksson
(trade, get rid of granny/sutter/eriksson if possible)
edler - tanev
stetcher - hutton
schenn - hughes
beiga
markstrom
demko
Size/weight is not always an accurate indicator in terms of strength, balance, and ability to protect the puck.
Despite his size I was very impressed with Quinn Hughes ability to protect the puck when he cut in on east/west players. He positions himself well when he cuts in and was able to fight of checks much better than I thought he would.
A lot of the players you listed have that ability as well. You can be smart and deceptively strong at that size while still having the agility/acceleration that most of the big players dont have.
I agree with the league being friendlier for smaller players. This is not clutch and grab 90's - lockout era hockey. The game is faster and the rules have changed to reward skill and speed more than they have been in the past.
I don't see Goldie sticking sadly. I really want him to succeed because its so obvious the talent is there. He just can not seem to get the consistency going and keeps finding himself in the doghouse for not being a good defensive player.
He has the chemistry with the other skilled players too. That may be his saving grace. I just think the odds are against him after he has been given many chances.