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Hughes back tonight against Sharks!


RunninWithTheDevil

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48 minutes ago, MB3 said:

This feels like the right thread to talk about this. 

Last year we said “finally, you gave Jack good linemates and he had a good season. A sniper in Sharangovich and a skilled possession winger in Kuokkonen and now he looks great.” 

Watching Sharangovich and Kuokkonen prove night-in and night-out they’ll never be anything more than AHL fodder shows me what an absurd disservice the Devils have actually done to Jack.

If he can make those two absolute scrubs look like solid top-6 wingers, what can he do with an actual goal scorer? What can he do with an actual possession monster? 

Jack Hughes might be a legitimately franchise-changing ice hockey player. Get well soon babe.

I’d like to see Jack with Zacha and Holtz. I think that combo could do some damage once Holtz has some more experience 

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6 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

I’d like to see Jack with Zacha and Holtz. I think that combo could do some damage once Holtz has some more experience 

Sounds like a plan to me. Probably the two best shooters on the team. Might as well play them with the best setup man. 

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9 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Sounds like a plan to me. Probably the two best shooters on the team. Might as well play them with the best setup man. 

That and I think Zacha is good on the boards and is willing to go to the front of the net which could complement the other 2 pretty well, especially if Holtz starts firing away. He’s gotten some nice rebounds off his shots but no ones been around to capitalize on them. 

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1 hour ago, MB3 said:

This feels like the right thread to talk about this. 

Last year we said “finally, you gave Jack good linemates and he had a good season. A sniper in Sharangovich and a skilled possession winger in Kuokkonen and now he looks great.” 

Watching Sharangovich and Kuokkonen prove night-in and night-out they’ll never be anything more than AHL fodder shows me what an absurd disservice the Devils have actually done to Jack.

If he can make those two absolute scrubs look like solid top-6 wingers, what can he do with an actual goal scorer? What can he do with an actual possession monster? 

Jack Hughes might be aJ legitimately franchise-changing ice hockey player. Get well soon babe.

I don't really get it.  How have the Devils done a disservice to Jack?  Who says he's forever married to and stuck with Sharangovich and Kuokkanen as linemates?  Guy's been on the team for 2 years...I think there's plenty of time for the Devils to "do right" by Hughes... 

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3 hours ago, MB3 said:

I think my phrasing was more strongly worded than how I meant it. I just think that, with everyone (around the league and here on this board) talking — fairly — about his lack of point production, it’s becoming more and more obvious that his linemates have absolutely stunk. He looked good last year in SPITE of those deadweight losers.

How about they actually had a good year and simply fell off the cliff afterwards? Happens all the time to different players (see: Gusev). As Colorado mentioned, they played with a different center at times as well.

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1 hour ago, MB3 said:

Gusev was exiting his prime, and then had a ridiculously long and weird pandemic off-season where he didn’t get to skate much. 

Sharangovich and Kuokkonen are 23 years old. They should be entering their prime. This isn’t a “slump” for them, this is night-in and night-out being the worst players on the ice. 

Unfortunately as we well know, not everyone automatically progresses (or even maintains)...and some guys can sharply regress (or be exposed for who they really are...anyone can overachieve for a limited stretch).  Like mfitz said about Sharangovich, he basically had about 6 good weeks...I was optimistic that he was going to be a solid contributor going forward, but he's been so nonexistent so far this season that with each passing game, it really feels like he's absolutely as "flash-in-the-pan" as it gets.  It would be one thing if he was getting prime scoring opportunities that will eventually start to find the net, but I'm not seeing that from him at all.    

Teams watch tape and figure out how to take a guy's production away, guys can mistakenly automatically assume that the next step is just going to come (and then it doesn't)...sh!t happens.  But these are the guys who are going to get cast aside sooner than later, if they don't start to show something...these guys aren't on "gotta play" contracts.  A guy making $5 - 6 million is going to get plenty of chances.  $2 million, not quite as many.

Would be nice if some of the players at Utica could help, but no impact-types there, really, even with the gaudy record.     

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In my heart I know one player doesn’t make the difference, but I feel like Jack’s return could be a huge lift for this team. They didn’t totally sh!t the bed in his absence, Mercer has filled that role admirably, now Bastian who was a well liked guy is back, and now Jack is poised to return. 

I just feel like it could be a huge “let’s fvcking go” type moment. 

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