kipwinger

Don't look now Hughes fanboys, but Pronman penned an article for the Athletic (paywall) today on Jack Hughes. Some of the highlights: Hughes is elite But he's not McDavid, McKinnon, or even Kane level elite. He isn't likely a top 10 player in the league. And would you look at that, he also penned an article on Kakko. The highlghts: Kakko dominated at a higher level than Hughes, against men in Liiga. Some NHL scouts feel Kakko's skill set translates better to the NHL game. Where have I heard these arguments before, @Dabura?

Washington has been by long time 2nd team, but given that they won last year I'll go with the Blue Jackets as well. And the Preds in the West. I'd be happy with either team winning it all.

Ahahahaahahahahaha. Case in point.

I think I"ll smile for weeks if Yzerman goes to NY. The meltdowns around here would be prime viewing.

Can't wait to hear the Hall of Fame introduction. Glen Sather should be lauded by the NHLPA for all the hard work he put in inflating player salaries. Who knows where contracts would be if not for Sather's annual massive overpayment for marginal talent.

"Weapons grade offense" was your quote I think lol. Something, something, multitalent superstar. Ubermensch. Seems like you might have got caught up on the HYPE my man. Better hope he's the next Kane, and better hope your "chess prodigy" outscores Kakko next year or else I'm going to talk MAD s***.

Do you feel the bottom falling out from underneath you? More and more commentators beginning to come around to things I've been saying all season bro. You've got a lot riding on this one.

Top ten in order of who I want. Hughes Kakko Zegras Byram Cozens Dach Newhook Krebs Turcotte Podkolzin

The contract they just gave Blashill and the comments they made at the presser certainly suggest that the Wings are not looking to be a basement team for the next two years. My guess is this year is the lowest they'd like to fall in the standings. Seems like management will be looking for considerable improvement next year and looking to push for the playoffs the year after that. Which makes me think that unless Hughes or Kakko fall into their laps, they'll take Byram with their first pick and hope that the forward group we have, plus one or two UFAs, can be dangerous going forward.

I'm not sure why what I'm saying is all that controversial. We saw it happen with Tkachuk and Zadina last year. By just about any objective measure Zadina is a more skilled hockey player thank Tkachuk. Certainly the preponderance of pre-draft rankings, scouting reports, etc. thought so. But Tkachuk is producing in the NHL while Zadina is developing in the AHL. Why? Because his game translated more easily to the NHL maybe? We saw it happen with Mantha, were everything came so easily to him in Juniors that he didn't learn how to play the right way. He basically racked up points doing stuff that would never work in the NHL. It's not unheard of. It's pretty obvious both Kakko and Hughes are going to be stars in the league. I'm suggesting that if there's a reason to not take Hughes it's probably that the other future star (the ones carving up a very tough men's league) is probably closer to playing an NHL style game than the 160 lb. kid on the all-star team playing against USHL competition and college kids.

I think he's going to be a ******* monster in like two years. He's still a skinny, gangly, teenager. Give him one or two years of legit NHL caliber offseason training and he's going to be a f*cking savage. He already protects the puck really well, skates fine, net front skills are as advertised and his passing is underrated. Add to that the fact that he'll be one of the most physically imposing guys in the league to play against and you've got a pretty good recipe for success. It's certainly possible the kid is the next Martin Hanzel. But the more I watched him this season, and the more I think about how much more he's going to physically develop, the more I think we've got a potentially game changing player on our hands.

Right, but I said his style is not conducive. Not his skill set. We clearly both agree that his skill set is elite. But the NHL is a WAY more structured game. Coaches demand that you play the system and don't free wheel. Even the best centers don't hang on to the puck and weave and bob around looking for open ice. You have to play give and go hockey in the NHL. You have to be in the right spots and play your systems without the puck. Blashill talked about it all the time with Larkin, "stopping on pucks", meaning gaining the zone, dishing, and getting open again rather than hanging on to the puck and kinda dancing around waiting to make a play. Knowing when to dumb the puck in rather than try to skate around on the perimeter looking for open ice. Hughes, more than Kakko, seems to generate a ton of his offense by hanging on to the puck and literally skating circles around the defense. He will not be able to do that in the NHL and so he'll need to change. He won't be able to do it because if the defensemen don't kill him his coach certainly will. That was my point. I still think that Hughes will go first, but if there's an argument to be made for Kakko it's that one.

He's a righty, he's got a good frame, he skates like the wind, and he's 23. All good reasons to keep him around for a while. Have to figure that Cholo, Hronek, Lindstrom, McIsaac have the best shot as future top 4 guys, but more and more it seems like teams are looking for good pairs that can be used situationally rather than just sticking their 4 best guys on the top two pairs. If he can stay cost controlled, finds a way to contribute on the PK, and pairs well with one of the more offensive lefties I think he's got a real good chance of sticking around and playing some decent minutes.

He was injured earlier in the season, but injuries don't seem to be a chronic thing with him as far as I've read. I have read that a number of scouts think his build is "slight" but he'll add bulk. Having never scouted a single hockey player my concerns are entirely theoretical, but IMO there are only about two valid reasons not to take Hughes over Kakko. First, Kakko is having a historically good season for a rookie in the Liiga which is a professional men's hockey league. Hughes is having a historically good season for the USDP, which mostly plays against USHL kids who aren't good enough to play in the CHL. Second, Hughes' style is not be conducive to the NHL game so he's going to have to adapt. It's entirely possible that change may impact his effectiveness in some way. He's still obviously going to be good, but teams may decide Kakko's power game is more conducive to the NHL and take him instead given that they're both relatively equal in terms of their upside in every other regard.

Yeah me too, he's basically another Jensen. If he can play fast, carve out a role for himself on the PK, and be physical I could see him occupying a spot on the third pair. I don't think he's done developing at 23 that's for sure. Down the road I'd imagine you'd want to move him/keep him as a 7th d-man unless he really breaks out over the next season. But I like what I've seen enough to basically give him Witkowski's job next season.

I was pretty impressed with the open ice hit Bowey put on Marchand. I love seeing that little punk get rocked.

Yeah, no way does Tavares leave the Islanders for TO if Matthews isn't on that team. But again, I don't even mind that. Just don't want to be told how Kyle Dubas is a genius because of it.

For me it's Toronto and that's about it. Toronto is my least favorite team with the worst fans. They were bad enough to win the draft lottery, and because of that landed Tavares, which is fine, but now we have to hear about how smart their "brain trust" was for the rest of time. Their fans are entitled whiners who seem unaware of the fact that they haven't been good in a lifetime. They make a big show of their "rivals" but move the goal posts on that the minute they lose. Montreal's their biggest rival, but that changes to Detroit the minute they lose to the Canadiens. Then they lose to Detroit and it's Ottawa or Buffalo. Basically what UofM fans do with Ohio State and Michigan State. Their "center of the hockey universe" garbage is profoundly annoying and despicable in a way that makes me almost....almost...hate the sport of hockey itself for the association. But worse than all of that, they're coached by Mike Babcock.

Lol, this is easily the worst Detroit Red Wings lineup of the last 25 years.

Byram is the only defenseman I'm interested in taking in the first round. And I suspect he'll probably go really high. All the rest have pretty significant holes in their game from what I read.

Because the title of the thread is "Who scores more goals, Larkin or AA".

It's only one "if". IF Larkin and AA played the same amount of minutes AA would f*cking bury Dylan in goals.

By the rationale advocated above Hirose could have an assist in each of Detroit's remaining games and still not be as good a playmaker as Justin Abdelkader apparently. Why? Cuz f*ck denominators, that's why.

Do you count the number of hits a baseball player gets without considering how many times they went to the plate? AA's goals per 60 minutes of ice time is significantly higher than Larkin's. Meaning he scores more when he's on the ice, he's just on the ice less. But don't take my word for it, here's a chart from a few years ago showing goals/60 played. You'll notice all of the league's most dangerous offensive threats are on it. AA too for what it's worth. https://www.sportingcharts.com/nhl/stats/player-goals-per-60-min-played/2016/ Sounds like a valid reason to conclude he's the better goal scorer. If you don't think so, then you likely also have to conclude that Luke Glendening is a better goal scorer than Filip Zadina based on their goal totals. As for the 5 on 5 stat, its actually pretty useful in determining which guys are most heavily relied upon by their coaches. Some guys get "ice time" but it's PK or PP time and pads the stat a bit. If you're way up there in 5 on 5 icetime it likely means you're 1) Awesome, 2) taking a ton of shifts.