LittleBallofHate

They felt badly for Kakko and wanted him to be #1 at something? Nico signed his at the end of camp so hopefully soon...

From "Tough Questions with Jack Hughes" (I won't even mention the gross factor but is this even a "meal"?): What meal are you best at preparing for yourself? Salami sandwich, just salami and mustard with bread.

And maybe Agostino? I still think Sykora when I see 17 thankfully. Interesting article by Julie Robenhymer on Groleau: https://www.nhl.com/devils/news/feature-undrafted-groleau-making-the-most-of-opportunity/c-308230654

Not sure where you're getting all the Toronto love from but he spends his off seasons there training. And he just started spending his off seasons there recently - this is from an April 2018 SI article: Upon returning from Coachella, Hall moved into a downtown Toronto apartment to spend the offseason with Andy O’Brien, the longtime trainer of Sidney Crosby. In years’ past Hall had always worked out in his hometown of Windsor, Ontario, under the supervision of his father, whose inventive programs included bobsled-based acceleration drills and catching mini footballs to train spacial awareness. But Hall wanted to skate and conduct on-ice skill work alongside fellow NHLers in the city. ETA: quote taken from this article https://www.si.com/nhl/2018/04/12/taylor-hall-new-jersey-devils-mvp-playoffs

For anyone's who's interested, here's the "Welcome to the NHL" video from the Draft. It follows Jack, Cole, Dylan & Kakko - it's only 23 minutes but funny (I thought) & worth the time.

Not entirely crazy about this deal but this made me feel slightly better - from MM / nhl.com : Simmonds had surgery May 1, 2018 to repair a pelvis tear on his right side and a torn abdominal muscle on his left side. He also missed the Predators final three playoff games after being hit in the knee with a shot during Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round against the Dallas Stars. "When you have (pelvis and groin) surgery like that they tell you to take 9-12 months to recover," Simmonds said. "It's safe to say it kind of hurt me a little bit last year but at the same time I'm going to continue to play hockey to help my team. Last year, from those surgeries I didn't get a lot of time to train in the summer and the summer was spent primarily rehabbing so there were a lot of ups and downs last year. I've already been in the gym for six weeks this year so it's going to be a big change and I'm just looking forward to proving everybody wrong to be honest with you."

Lou will never change. @ChrisKuc New #Blackhawks goaltender Robin Lehner: "We were still pretty much all in with Long Island and they walked away—didn’t want to do anything." New #Blackhawks goaltender Robin Lehner said the Islanders gave him an "ultimatum" and when he came back after thinking about it the Isles had moved on.

You tryin to make Tay Tay jealous so he doesn't leave? Genius.

Pronman's (the Athletic) Mock Draft this week had him at #9 (to Anaheim). Sadly, there's no way he's dropping to #34 (he's not going to be in the NHL this upcoming year anyway so it shouldn't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things). I'd love to see it but I'd also love to see Hall sign for 8/$7m on July 1 - not gunna happen.

This is pretty much a perfect GIF (unless you're still in the Kaapo Kakko club):

Charles Glenn has been singing the Anthem for them for 19 years. He has MS & is retiring when their season ends. This is actually an interesting story - how he got the gig & what happened when he met Meatloaf - it's worth a read if you have the time: http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/26745991/blues-anthem-singer-battling-ms-hopes-ride-continues-long-possible

Jack definitely looks like he'd rather go anywhere but here:

Congrats to the Finns! This is pretty neat - congrats to Kaapo too (ETA: anyone's welcome to add some snark about this being the end of winning): @JokkeNevalainen Unconfirmed but I believe Kaapo Kakko is the first person in the history of hockey to win U18 World Championship, U20 World Championship and men's World Championship before being eligible for the NHL Draft. And now he gets to party: @JulieRobenhymer Kaapo Kakko was scheduled to leave tomorrow for the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, but...he’s got a party to go to in Helsinki after Finland won #IIHFWorlds gold. He will head over later in the week.

No vote from me on that artwork - it's gotta have Ty Smith and/or Jesper Boqvist - not Hall (sorry Hallsy, not til you sign).

Some good quotes in this article: https://www.nhl.com/devils/news/worlds-hughes-breaks-out-in-final-game-of-tournament/c-307533266 Blashill finally gives Jack props and there's some tidbits from Hynes: Hynes also noted Hughes' speed and skating, his vision and hockey sense and his playmaking abilities before concluding: "There's no question, he's a game-breaking player and will develop into a franchise player that will help drive a team and play a top line center role in the NHL. "If he does end up becoming a New Jersey Devil," Hynes continued. "I think that the fact that I've had the opportunity to get to know him and a relationship has been created and we've been working together, that's a big step in having a young talented player feel comfortable in his first year in the NHL to help him be able to make an impact sooner rather than later."

Some reactions from today's game: @TheDraftAnalyst Jack Hughes in this tournament has spent more time supporting behind the net than at any point in the last two regular seasons. Clearly making an effort to improve his defensive-zone play, and he’s picked off passes as well. — Don’t care if it’s one game — Jack Hughes is making a lot of you look pretty fvckin' stupid. @chrismpeters Jack Hughes was named U.S. Player of the Game in today’s quarterfinal after his two-assist performance. Played 12:52 in the game, but his minutes went up in the third period. -- Jack Hughes was a big part of USA’s toughest game of the tournament. He looked like a pro today with his reads and his effort. He was hard on pucks, getting his stick under guys and made confident plays. Two assists against the best team in the tournament by a mile.

With all these 1995 memories, I wanted to post this here - the NJD just retweeted this:

Good article on Jack - it's long but some good pics and even a Langenbrunner quote: https://www.nhl.com/news/jack-hughes-gets-assist-from-family-ahead-of-2019-nhl-draft/c-307453174 ETA: Patrick Kane quote: And yet the Blackhawks forward believes Hughes can be not just a comparable NHL player, but better. "I feel like when smaller players come into the League and they have that offensive-type game, it seems to be easy to compare them to a guy like me," said Kane, who is 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, but was 5-9, 160 at the 2007 NHL Scouting Combine. "But I think he does a lot of things better than me, to be honest with you. "He's always moving, always skating, and even if he's not near the puck or the action, he's still got his speed and he's coming into the zone or coming into the action with a lot of movement and speed."

I'm surprised Kakko needs a translator. The NYR locker room will be interesting between all the new Russians & the Finn ... Was it @jagknife that was having some fun with Hynes not liking guys that don't speak English well? I guess that settles it - Hughes it is 😁

Speaking of, neat little fact (good drafting): @HockeyPulz With Yegor Rykov reportedly signing an ELC with the Rangers, that means that all 9 players selected by the #NJDevils in the 2016 NHL draft have signed NHL entry-level contracts. How crazy is that?

Short little interview with Kathryn Tappen & Jack - she asks him a few random Qs (favorite cheat food? pizza with pepperoni & olives... and hot sauce) - sorry if this has already been posted elsewhere: https://www.nbcsports.com/video/general/ice-kathryn-tappen

Steve Kournianos posted this about Jack Hughes the other day FWIW: "For years, Hughes outscored his peers — elite and average groups — by a 2:1 or 3:1 margin in league and international play. That’s one way you assess a ceiling. Fast forward to 5-6 years when he’s in his prime, playing against those same peers and many others younger in the NHL. The average age of an NHL player is 27-29. When he’s 24, he’ll be competing against the same majority peer group with 20+ min TOI. Right now, the average age of an IIHF WC team is 26-27. Hughes is 18. That means he’s 8-9 years YOUNGER than the average player. And he’s playing 4th-line minutes. It’s a nonstandard condition. The idea that Hughes — the world’s most elite teenage hockey talent the last 3-4 years — won’t adjust, improve, strengthen, and fine-tune what he already does at an elite level — is one of the dumbest —THE DUMBEST — things I have ever heard. Remember six months ago when his shot was criticized? Did you see the U18’s? Did you hear his interviews? Clearly he saw it as an area he needed to work on, and he did." .... "Small sample size. Four WJC games and three WC games? I don’t think it’s a great unknown at all. I’m looking at Hughes at 21 or 22 and I see a superstar. But that’s me. The only reason Hughes went to Slovakia was to improve. That’s it. If you know him and his family, they don’t care about draft status. They care about hard work, discipline, integrity. His grandfather was an FDNY chief and Marine. Incredible history of selfless service. All Hughes talks about are his teammates. That kid will never stop working to improve, which is scary to think."

Yep - at the beginning:

The below was pinned to his twitter account. Sorry MFitz, I'm bringing the Nerd Convention to NJDevs! 🤓 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q-Pnzfvmo_1hDlWu7WqJHVyTZqy15386jVESKSOf0V4/edit#gid=0 ETA: here's his twitter account, in case you want to go back further: https://twitter.com/cane_matt?lang=en

Some good stories in this article about Larry - not a whole lot about his time with the Devils but still worth a read: https://www.nhl.com/news/st-louis-getting-champions-perspective-from-larry-robinson-during-playoffs/c-307165304?tid=306220356 That's not to say the players and staff don't enjoy ribbing a man who's 15 years older than the coach. Robinson chuckles that forward Alexander Steen calls him "Larry the Legend." "He'll say, 'How many Cups did you win? Nine? Oh my God!'" he said with a laugh. "And David (Alexander) calls me 'Dad.' Hey, call me anything, but don't call me late for dinner."