JeremyCuddles

Doubt he ever had much respect to begin with. But it definitely isn’t a good look when you’re challenged for a dirty play and don’t respond.

I always enjoy when threads become little more than nothing. With Juolevi on the shelf til next season I guess there's not much to talk about other than calling him a bust, garbage, or whatever fans need to feel better. Keep on keeping on folks.

I imagine the things he needs to work on aren’t game related so having him play isn’t really super important although it’s still rather concerning. So hopefully he works his tail off on his skating.

Well, if we are being honest. Even if he needs to be protected we aren't really at risk of losing a big time d-man. Would be nice to protect an extra 5/6 D-man but if not, oh well we'll make do.

Despite all the armchair scouts being low on the kids in Utica I am okay with how they are being handled. It's obvious this franchise isn't about trial by fire. Give the kids time to adjust and get better. Patience in todays age is obviously in short supply. We have so much access to information and other teams it's hard to not be like "well X player is developing at this timeline, Y player isn't therefore he's bum." Let the process play out. Bertuzzi was a big advocate of the Detroit model, that's similar to what we are doing now. Let it happen.

Hughes would always have been saved from the expansion draft, it was just a matter of potentially losing Stecher or Hutton or some one like that. Hopefully it is 11 games or fewer to be exempt. Seems like an odd number.

Unique is a stretch. There are players that do what he does, he may be better than them eventually but that's not even certain. You severely underrate Karlsson. A guy that has been in the league for almost 10 years and his point per game numbers are pretty insane for a d-man. I get we all like our kids, but your assessment of Hughes is beyond homerism and you may end up just disappointing yourself.

That guy exists, his name is Brent Burns.

I figured he was one of the defensive guys. That's why I was so surprised to see his numbers. Definitely see shades of that in Baer. He's good defensively and good offensively. He won't be the defensive force Samuelsson was but he definitely synergizes well with Petey on the PP, as does most everyone but still. Interesting comparable there.

Didn't realize how efficient Samulsson was, wasn't he also a defensive stalwart? Or am I thinking someone else?

Petey and everyone's favourite "trade em for a 2nd round pick" player. 2019 not lookin' so hot for us.

I dunno, a Stanley Cup player would be pretty nice to have.

I remember hearing Bobby Mac or Button or somebody like that say something about him more likely being a winger. I can't find the quote so I don't have much legs to stand on here. Either way the difference between Kakko and Hughes isn't as big as people make it seem.

There's no guarantee he's even a center at the NHL level. Especially given his best comparable is Patrick Kane.

DiPietro did everything but score for Canada. He played great, stood on his head. Guy is class personified as well. Gonna be a great pro one day. He models himself after a pretty great goalie as well. Good head on his shoulders.

Bo, dude shoulda had it this year. Tanev/Edler/Stecher - A Boeser/Petey - A

Not to get too far ahead of myself, but how many rookies have ever won the Hart?

Definitely high risk with some plays. Seen one play against the Czechs where he turned over the puck and it led to a 2 on 1 the other way for a goal. He's still super young and honestly that's just the way it goes sometimes with players like that. When it works, he's a god. When it doesn't, well we just gotta hope it doesn't fail often. Lol.

Not to toot my own horn but in the offseason I said this was gonna be a breakout season for him. Hasn't surprised me with his play.

Very true. I was one such fellow. Petey's elusiveness and IQ is unreal though.

I agree. I am clearly not seeing what others are seeing. He's not outplaying anyone really, he's not world breaking, and he'd likely very much benefit more from potentially playing more in Utica than the usage he is getting in the NHL. Playing fewer than 10 minutes a game in 3 of the last 5 games (which include 2 games where he only played 6 minutes). Other two games played 10 and 11 minutes respectively. Even if his minutes only bump up to 14-15 minutes in Utica it's better than what he is getting here in Vancouver.

I can understand, I was much more excited when I heard we got Woo in the 2nd round than I was getting Hughes in the first round. Not to say I think Woo will be the superior player.

Heiskanen is looking pretty studly in Dallas to be fair. The question then becomes do we have Boqvist, Bouchard or Dobson instead of Hughes though, just for the handedness? Probably not, scouting staff seems to prioritize talent/potential over positional need which looks like is right handed D-men. Thankfully, if it were me drafting there are a few defenders I would have taken in place of forwards that would have made me look worse than Milbury.

A bit heavy handed to call a 19 year old " a project".

You don’t know that.