CommonDreads Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 19 hours ago, glenwo2 said: As I scoured the internet, I came across this interesting viewpoint in regards to Kakko's "playing against men" thing that's basically becoming a Meme right now. Now I'm not going to pretend I know anything about the Finnish League or any other league since the NHL is the only league I know but this was stated by someone *claiming* he knew so take it for what it's worth : ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kakko played against "men" in the Finnish league. His results were impressive, but "men" in the Finnish league isn't as impressive as it sounds as it's not that great of a league. Obviously the NHL is better, but so is the KHL, and so is the SEL. Even the Swiss league is nipping on Liiga's heels, and the AHL is probably only behind Liiga by a bit. It's really not comparable to just say "men". --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is this right? Is the KHL, and SEL better than Liiga? That's pretty accurate, in terms of league strength, it probably looks something like this: 1. NHL 2. KHL 3. SHL 4. LIIGA 5. AHL 6. NLA (Switzerland) While there's obviously due credit for producing the way he has against men and pros over in Finland, there's countless examples of high producers coming over from Finland and struggling even in the AHL, see Malte Stromwall, Henrik Haapala, Ville Meskanen, Antti Suomela as examples over just the past two years. I obviously believe Kakko is on a way different plane than the players I just cited, but production in the LIIGA is a little more overstated than it deserves. Like Kournianos said, Hughes has produced at an unprecedented 2:1 or 3:1 clip at the US Program for years now, and the U18 Program plays a good chunk of their games against college teams as well, so even playing at the program he was playing against guys 4-6 years older than him with pretty frequent regularity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenwo2 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, LittleBallofHate said: 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." Damn! That's Extremely HIGH PRAISE! Edited May 19, 2019 by glenwo2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenwo2 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 I'm probably wrong to think this but here goes : You know...I noticed on Twitter how there are constantly Finnish fans(trolls, imo) coming into tweets about Hughes, with them trashing him and putting Kakko on a Pedestal. Stay Classy, btw. I think the real reason they're doing this is that they want so badly to be able to say a Finnish player was the #1 pick. Am I right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevils1214 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 19 minutes ago, glenwo2 said: I'm probably wrong to think this but here goes : You know...I noticed on Twitter how there are constantly Finnish fans(trolls, imo) coming into tweets about Hughes, with them trashing him and putting Kakko on a Pedestal. Stay Classy, btw. I think the real reason they're doing this is that they want so badly to be able to say a Finnish player was the #1 pick. Am I right? Finnish people want the Finnish player to go first overall just because he is Finnish? Absolutely absurd. Definitely not remotely connected. /s 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SterioDesign Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 this gives you an idea of what some NHLers did in the same league Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenwo2 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 (edited) 6 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said: Finnish people want the Finnish player to go first overall just because he is Finnish? Absolutely absurd. Definitely not remotely connected. /s Hence, the bolded statement (disclaimer) I put up. (also /s ) Edited May 19, 2019 by glenwo2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 7 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said: Finnish people want the Finnish player to go first overall just because he is Finnish? Absolutely absurd. Definitely not remotely connected. /s Just now, glenwo2 said: Hence, the bolded statement (disclaimer) I put up. I think sarcasm has been missed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenwo2 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 (edited) 2 minutes ago, mfitz804 said: I think sarcasm has been missed. I think an "edit" has been missed, too. Added my own. (I saw the tiny /s there a bit later) Edited May 19, 2019 by glenwo2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevils1214 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 (edited) 7 minutes ago, glenwo2 said: Hence, the bolded statement (disclaimer) I put up. (also /s ) I cant see bolded text. The website has been messed up so all the text looks bold on my computer all the time. Sorry. (I'm also hungover; not all the gears are turning) Edited May 19, 2019 by NJDevils1214 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenwo2 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 1 minute ago, NJDevils1214 said: I cant see bolded text. The website has been messed up so all the text looks bold on my computer all the time. Sorry. (I'm also hungover; not all the gears are turning) You didn't see this part then : I'm probably wrong to think this but here goes : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevils1214 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 4 minutes ago, glenwo2 said: You didn't see this part then : I'm probably wrong to think this but here goes : I did. Didn't click. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SterioDesign Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Just now, glenwo2 said: I think an "edit" has been missed, too. (I saw the tiny /s there a bit later) You often tell people that they missed your edits but you have to keep in mind that once you reply or quote someone... you don't really go back to read it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenwo2 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 3 minutes ago, SterioDesign said: You often tell people that they missed your edits but you have to keep in mind that once you reply or quote someone... you don't really go back to read it again. yeah I noticed that. Seems there's no second chances around here in regards to that. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 3 minutes ago, glenwo2 said: yeah I noticed that. Seems there's no second chances around here in regards to that. lol You have to stay sharp that's for sure lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SterioDesign Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 3 minutes ago, glenwo2 said: yeah I noticed that. Seems there's no second chances around here in regards to that. lol well i observed that you're making a lot of emotionally driven "in the moment" posts, so maybe i'd suggest using the good ol' “Turn your tongue seven times in your mouth before speaking” a bit more and make sure everything you have to say is there and thought out haha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenwo2 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 1 minute ago, SterioDesign said: well i observed that you're making a lot of emotionally driven "in the moment" posts, so maybe i'd suggest using the good ol' “Turn your tongue seven times in your mouth before speaking” a bit more and make sure everything you have to say is there and thought out haha There's something dirty about that comment but.....yeah, you're right. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 30 minutes ago, glenwo2 said: There's something dirty about that comment but.....yeah, you're right. Your own tongue= not dirty. Someone else’s = fun on a Friday night. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenwo2 Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 In my stupid (I think) opinion, there is nothing that Kakko does that is better today than the best of the NHL whereas I would challenge you to find 10-20 NHL'ers who skate and pass better than Hughes. (notice I said 10-20 instead of just 1 or 2....I'm so sneaky ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilsfan118 Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Yeah I'm still on the Hughes train - I think Kakko's made it interesting but there's a reason Hughes has been the consensus #1 kid in his draft class for years. NHL-readiness is just one quality like many others scouts have to look for.. Hughes' size doesn't worry me one bit. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Hughes is the youngest player ever for the United States team at the Worlds and is playing on a team full of top flight NHL talent and is holding his own just fine, as contrasted with Eichel and Matthews who got top line minutes playing with, at best, average pros. As a 17 year old Hughes excelled against college players, many of whom are older than 22. He could have entered the NHL six months ago and he'd probably be one of the twenty fastest skaters in the league. The only source of this ridiculous concept that Hughes is not NHL ready I can think of would be David Conte or Connor Chatham. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSkirt Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 I'm not sure of this link was posted yet but I found this Hughes article to be a good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slasher72 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Whoever will turn out to be the better nhl player, that's who I want the devils to draft. It's that simple. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 8 hours ago, slasher72 said: Whoever will turn out to be the better nhl player, that's who I want the devils to draft. It's that simple. Lol Agreed. And it would easily be done if the Devils hired the right scouting team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDfan1711 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, BlueSkirt said: I'm not sure of this link was posted yet but I found this Hughes article to be a good read. Just read that - long article, but basically filled with tons of good praise. I gotta be honest, I'm thrilled we have the #1 pick, and prior to this season I really didn't think we'd have a top 5 pick going into this draft, but with that in mind, I'm pretty afraid that all of this hype is building up, and there's always the chance that the player just doesn't live up to all of the expectations. I guess you really shouldn't think that way, but on some level it just seems like it's too good to be true. As great as it is (or should be) to read an article like that where the guy is essentially being touted as one of the best players to come through the draft in the last decade or so, I'm basically done with taking in all of the comparisons and potential could-be's. The guy's good, we know that. He's (probably) the best player in the draft, so we're (probably) going to take him. If that happens, great, but for now I'm going to temper my expectations and wait until June. Edited May 21, 2019 by NJDfan1711 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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