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Who do you want at #4OA? *It's Luke! *


Nicomo

Who do you want at #4?  

50 members have voted

  1. 1. Who do you want at #4?

    • Luke Hughes
    • Brandt Clarke
    • William Eklund
    • Matthew Beniers
    • Simon Edvinsson
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    • Other
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It's still Clarke for me. But I would be very happy with Hughes, Power, Beniers, or Eklund too.

Clarke has that quality where he sees the game multiple steps ahead, a quality of high end players. He has so much control in the offensive zone, and is the type of player to really dictate play when he's on his game. I think that's where the Karlsson comparisons come from. On top of that, he's got an outstanding skill set from top to bottom without any major deficits in his game. He had an impressive season in Slovakia (men's league), with the highest p/g of any defenseman on his team. He settled in there much better than his older brother, Devils forward prospect, Graeme Clarke, who ended up having a solid season in Binghamton.

If Luke Hughes is really supposed to be better than Quinn, then I can't really argue with that. Luke has the tools to make him an absolutely elite defenseman if he can put it all together. He would be great for this team with his elite skating. I would be hyped to have him too.

Eklund, in my opinion, is the most underrated player in this draft. Hard to find someone who has played so well in the SHL in his draft season recently. Eklund did it during a crazy COVID season where he fought through injuries.

I like Beniers because he is a workhorse with high end (although not elite) talent. He can play LW or C. Smart and complete, but also seems like a high energy guy. Can't really go wrong with someone like him, even if he doesn't end up a top line point per game kind of guy.

Johnson, Guenther, and Wallstedt are all good players, but I'm doubting the Devils are targeting them.

I see Edvinsson as a reach, even though he is ranked pretty high up on many lists out there. He needs to develop his game a lot more before we can see what he's fully capable of, so I wouldn't take that risk if I were the Devils. It would only be in the circumstance where Power, Hughes, and Clarke are off the board that it would even be a consideration. In which case, just take the top forward in the draft.

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3 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

I'm very curious to know what would be the overall perception of Luke if he was like... Luke Donovan... and not Jack and Quinn's brother.

I’ve been asking the same. One thing is certain, less of our fans would be insisting we draft him. 

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Between Clarke and Hughes. They are both good at producing offense. They are both prone to make mistakes too. Clarke mostly by being too aggressive on the offense while Luke appears to be making mistakes with his positionning and getting lost in the defensive zone.

Clarke played against men this year and didn't really skip a beat. Luke played against kids and did very well.

So hard to gauge. it sucks that Luke couldnt play for team USA because of his injury

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2 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

It’s hard for me to put too much stock into “played against men” after seeing Kakko struggle so badly in the NHL. 

what about Austin matthews who dominated against men though? Or Reid Boucher dominating against kids?

I mean lol we can't really let one instance ruin a whole premise.

Clarke has in his resume that he adapted flawlessly to a new system, new league, playing against tougher competition. That's not guaranteeing anything. But it's certainly something scouts can check off their list and see that he pulled it off. That's simply something we don't know yet about luke

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6 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

what about Austin matthews who dominated against men though? Or Reid Boucher dominating against kids?

I mean lol we can't really let one instance ruin a whole premise.

Clarke has in his resume that he adapted flawlessly to a new system, new league, playing against tougher competition. That's not guaranteeing anything. But it's certainly something scouts can check off their list and see that he pulled it off. That's simply something we don't know yet about luke

How good is the Slovakian league though? Is it better than Liiga? We were beat over the head with how pro ready Kakko was supposedly going to be and that turned out completely wrong. I’m not against going with Clarke at all, I’m just not giving him an edge because he’s playing against a bunch of older guys that aren’t anywhere close to NHL caliber. 

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3 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

How good is the Slovakian league though? Is it better than Liiga? We were beat over the head with how pro ready Kakko was supposedly going to be and that turned out completely wrong. I’m not against going with Clarke at all, I’m just not giving him an edge because he’s playing against a bunch of older guys that aren’t anywhere close to NHL caliber. 

Oh yeah for sure. But regardless of all that. its still good to see that he's made a good transition. its not just about producing or wtv. it's showing the ability to learn a new system, play against bigger opponents. Lots of "big kids" do well cause they are bigger than other kids but when they hit the NHL and don't have that advantage its different.

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17 minutes ago, MB3 said:

he’d still be considered a top-5 pick and i’d still want him or clarke.

but the reality is, his name is Luke Hughes. there’s proof that there is stupid skill attached to the Hughes name, and many scouts say he’s the best of the three. Devils fans have dealt with favorite players leaving to be closer to family, etc. 

if he’s available, you have to take him. if he AND power are available, you have to take power and trade the islanders pick, next year’s 1st and whatever else you can to get back up there and take him too. 

Yeah and i get all that. I just hope that if we do pick him and that Clarke is still on the board. That's it's cause they were REALLY REALLY close in their eyes and the hughes thing was just the tiebreaker. And not that the scouts may have preferred clarke but "politics" got involved and they pick Hughes. But then who knows, maybe Clarke turn into the next Lidstrom and we all curse the gods or he's flopping and we're glad we picked luke.

But also both Power and Hughes are not projected to be franchise dmen. i would certainly not risk trading many assets PLUS next year first round pick and potentially miss on a generational talent like him for 2 guys that are good but not that elite and pretty flawed prospects in a weak draft year.

I also read a sh!t load of scouting reports, any i could find really and didn't see a single one saying luke was better than his brothers? Jack and Quinn said that but i mean... PK said the same thing about his brother too lol

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23 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

I also read a sh!t load of scouting reports, any i could find really and didn't see a single one saying luke was better than his brothers? Jack and Quinn said that but i mean... PK said the same thing about his brother too lol

Yeah, I’ve literally seen mostly the opposite wrt Luke. But the 3rd best Hughes brother is still probably going to be pretty damn good. And he’s about 4 inches taller than Jack and Quinn (at 17), and skates as well as they do. 

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7 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Yeah, I’ve literally seen mostly the opposite wrt Luke. But the 3rd best Hughes brother is still probably going to be pretty damn good. And he’s about 4 inches taller than Jack and Quinn (at 17), and skates as well as they do. 

yeah well it's mostly his decision making that is worrying but i also read that out of all the prospect he's the one who showed the most progress through the season. So if he's a riser that's really what you want.

As for the skating, obviously it's great but it needs to lead to something. I don't remember reading a single comment in here  this season like "yeah we lost again but wtv did you see jack and Bratt flying out there? It made it all worth it ❤️ "

Or anyone in Buffalo looking at Skinner like "yeah he's getting paid like 10m and has one goal but man, look at him skate! He's a former artistic skater!"

Edited by SterioDesign
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26 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

yeah well it's mostly his decision making that is worrying but i also read that out of all the prospect he's the one who showed the most progress through the season. So if he's a riser that's really what you want.

As for the skating, obviously it's great but it needs to lead to something. I don't remember reading a single comment in here  this season like "yeah we lost again but wtv did you see jack and Bratt flying out there? ❤️ "

Or anyone in Buffalo looking at Skinner like "yeah he's getting paid like 10m and has one goal but man, look at him skate! He's a former artistic skater!"

Ofc it has to “lead to something” (obvious statement is obvious), but being a world class skater is a hell of trait to to have. And it’s something players need to develop super early on as kids (see the Hughes bros, Scott Niedermayer, etc). You probably aren’t going to become a good skater out of nowhere as an adult. Just look at Will Butcher. Guy would probably be a stud if he was even an average skater.

And it’s more important than ever with how the game is played now. A defenseman can have weaknesses without the puck (like Luke), but if he has the ability to skate the puck out of trouble and has a strong transition game it can make up for it.

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8 hours ago, Nicomo said:

How good is the Slovakian league though? Is it better than Liiga? We were beat over the head with how pro ready Kakko was supposedly going to be and that turned out completely wrong. I’m not against going with Clarke at all, I’m just not giving him an edge because he’s playing against a bunch of older guys that aren’t anywhere close to NHL caliber. 

Slovakian league is better than school league. And price of mistake is much higher.  It doesnt make Hughes worser or Clarke better. It`s just a different level of competition.

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Most likely it will come down to Clarke vs Hughes and between those two I would rather take Clarke.  He just seems like the player with the bigger upside and strengths than Hughes.

Also, I really hate the idea of having to take a player just because his brother plays for us and the fear of losing him to another team.  Most indications point to Luke not going to Vancouver, so at worst each brother will be on a different team.  The only scenario then I could see that Jack leaves is if NJ is in the worst shape out of the three teams with a brother.  If that's the case in the likely 5-10 years from now when Jack is a UFA then that's a much bigger issue than having him leave.

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7 hours ago, SterioDesign said:

yeah well it's mostly his decision making that is worrying but i also read that out of all the prospect he's the one who showed the most progress through the season. So if he's a riser that's really what you want.

As for the skating, obviously it's great but it needs to lead to something. I don't remember reading a single comment in here  this season like "yeah we lost again but wtv did you see jack and Bratt flying out there? It made it all worth it ❤️ "

Or anyone in Buffalo looking at Skinner like "yeah he's getting paid like 10m and has one goal but man, look at him skate! He's a former artistic skater!"

There were comments like that, especially about Jack.

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