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Quinn Hughes | #43 | D


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1 minute ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Edler Gudbranson really worked last season. Kept Pastrnak - Bergeron - Marchand off the scoresheet, and showed both wingers close up views of the ice surface.

Edler/Gudbranson was actually a very good top pair for quite a while.  I could see Hughes and Tanev or Hughes and Guddy as our second pair.  Elder will be on our top pair with other guy.

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5 hours ago, Alflives said:

I think the most effective D man for the Cup winning Caps was Orlov.  I think he's 5'10".  Hughes will dominate from the moment he steps onto the ice for his first shift.  Dahlin will not be nearly so spectacular to watch, or influence the game as Hughes.  

#Stanley Cup Parade on Georgia in 2020!!!!

Orlov is 5'11 and 212 lbs. Not comparable at all with Hughes.

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I'm struggling to understand why people are against him playing in The AHL next season. The cons that I can think of are that it would burn a year from his elc and the style of play is a bit more sloppy and scrambly than it will be at the next level. Is it any less structured than the NCAA?

 

The pros are numerous from my way of thinking. He gets to play with and against other pro players. He will be coming in with a group of his peers who he can share the rookie experience with. The vocal and on ice leader of the team is Demko, who he will be playing in front of for years to come. His head coach was a former defense coach. According to Ryan Johnson the team had 69 practice days last season, so there's lots of time for development. If he starts to carve up the league he can be called up to the big club and can be sent down at will...

 

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040/johnson-demko-sets-tone-for-practices-in-utica-1.1118414

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I am not against him playing in the AHL other than I think he will probably make the Canucks.  The joke around the draft was that he was already the Canucks best Defence man.  That may not be a joke.

Edited by DrJockitch
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36 minutes ago, canuckledraggin said:

I'm struggling to understand why people are against him playing in The AHL next season. The cons that I can think of are that it would burn a year from his elc and the style of play is a bit more sloppy and scrambly than it will be at the next level. Is it any less structured than the NCAA?

 

The pros are numerous from my way of thinking. He gets to play with and against other pro players. He will be coming in with a group of his peers who he can share the rookie experience with. The vocal and on ice leader of the team is Demko, who he will be playing in front of for years to come. His head coach was a former defense coach. According to Ryan Johnson the team had 69 practice days last season, so there's lots of time for development. If he starts to carve up the league he can be called up to the big club and can be sent down at will...

 

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040/johnson-demko-sets-tone-for-practices-in-utica-1.1118414

Two reasons I can think of:

 

1) Very skilled players can do better in the NHL than the AHL, because having better linemates complements their game much better, and

2) The AHL is full of players who will do anything to try to make the NHL, including crushing smaller, skilled, high profile young players like Hughes. Combine that with the more scrambly play, with his wingers not always being in the right positions to take passes when he needs to get rid of the puck in a hurry, I think he is more likely to be injured playing in the AHL than he would in the NHL. If he is going to play the majority of the year in the AHL, I would prefer he spend another year in college instead.

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7 minutes ago, WeneedLumme said:

Two reasons I can think of:

 

1) Very skilled players can do better in the NHL than the AHL, because having better linemates complements their game much better, and

2) The AHL is full of players who will do anything to try to make the NHL, including crushing smaller, skilled, high profile young players like Hughes. Combine that with the more scrambly play, with his wingers not always being in the right positions to take passes when he needs to get rid of the puck in a hurry, I think he is more likely to be injured playing in the AHL than he would in the NHL. If he is going to play the majority of the year in the AHL, I would prefer he spend another year in college instead.

the AHL isn't like that anymore, no more than the NHL.  It's a fast, skilled league full of young guys developing and trying to get to the NHL

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6 minutes ago, WeneedLumme said:

Two reasons I can think of:

 

1) Very skilled players can do better in the NHL than the AHL, because having better linemates complements their game much better, and

2) The AHL is full of players who will do anything to try to make the NHL, including crushing smaller, skilled, high profile young players like Hughes. Combine that with the more scrambly play, with his wingers not always being in the right positions to take passes when he needs to get rid of the puck in a hurry, I think he is more likely to be injured playing in the AHL than he would in the NHL. If he is going to play the majority of the year in the AHL, I would prefer he spend another year in college instead.

I guess that's the part I don't understand. How is it any different for 24 and 25 year old never will be players in the NCAA, whose career highlight would be to nail a blue chip prospect? College hockey is not a no hit league and the risks of getting run are real there as well.

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2 minutes ago, canuckledraggin said:

I guess that's the part I don't understand. How is it any different for 24 and 25 year old never will be players in the NCAA, whose career highlight would be to nail a blue chip prospect? College hockey is not a no hit league and the risks of getting run are real there as well.

I think there is more motivation for an AHL player to run a skilled prospect than there is in the NCAA. It's the difference between a NCAA "never will be" player having a career highlight (which would really be a pretty dim highlight), and an AHL pro doing what he feels is necessary to give him a better shot at a better (ie: NHL) career.

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32 minutes ago, WeneedLumme said:

Two reasons I can think of:

 

1) Very skilled players can do better in the NHL than the AHL, because having better linemates complements their game much better, and

2) The AHL is full of players who will do anything to try to make the NHL, including crushing smaller, skilled, high profile young players like Hughes. Combine that with the more scrambly play, with his wingers not always being in the right positions to take passes when he needs to get rid of the puck in a hurry, I think he is more likely to be injured playing in the AHL than he would in the NHL. If he is going to play the majority of the year in the AHL, I would prefer he spend another year in college instead.

I make decisions in my job using an evidence based approach. I have heard the bolded argument above before, that the AHL has more goons willing to hurt smaller players so they can stand out themselves. I may have even typed that out myself before.

 

I assume some analytical hockey guy has looked into this theory. Does anyone know, or has anyone seen, any study or stats to prove if this theory is real?

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No doubt, Hughes is not a big guy. 

 

But Hughes has always played against bigger guys, and he skates like the wind. He also has superb awareness and is a slippery player. Hard to hit what you can't catch. He's had to play against bigger guys (including men) and he more than held his own. I think he could play in the NHL next year, but it will be up to him. He may choose to play one more year in college (with his bro?) and try to win a championship, or he might want to start his NHL career.

 

It seems almost magical. The Sedins retire after their incredible careers. Then a couple of months later, the Canucks draft Hughes in Dallas, lucky enough he fell. And then next year his brother is available at the Draft, which will be in Vancouver. There was also that one photo Jack Hughes took wearing a Canucks cap after Quinn was drafted. Doesn't it just seem like the stars are starting to align?  

 

 

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1 hour ago, canuckledraggin said:

I'm struggling to understand why people are against him playing in The AHL next season.

If you're referring to my comments last page, I'm not 'against' him playing in the AHL at all. I just think that if the decision is made to give him another developmental year that college might be the better route as it keeps him even a little bit further out of the fishbowl of being IN the Canucks organization.

 

It also eliminates the temptation (ability) to want to call him back up (after you just decided he should develop for another year). And perhaps more importantly, stamps out what would be incessant whining from media and fans to recall him all year long.

 

IMO, it's all about what's best for his development. Is playing in the NHL the right path? Or would he be best served with more development time (more gym/practice time) in college and without the constant distraction of recalls surrounding him? 

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1 hour ago, canuckledraggin said:

I'm struggling to understand why people are against him playing in The AHL next season. The cons that I can think of are that it would burn a year from his elc and the style of play is a bit more sloppy and scrambly than it will be at the next level. Is it any less structured than the NCAA?

 

The pros are numerous from my way of thinking. He gets to play with and against other pro players. He will be coming in with a group of his peers who he can share the rookie experience with. The vocal and on ice leader of the team is Demko, who he will be playing in front of for years to come. His head coach was a former defense coach. According to Ryan Johnson the team had 69 practice days last season, so there's lots of time for development. If he starts to carve up the league he can be called up to the big club and can be sent down at will...

 

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040/johnson-demko-sets-tone-for-practices-in-utica-1.1118414

If he were to spend the entire season in Utica he would not burn a year of his entry level contract unless he played 10 or more games with the Canucks. I am sure from Hughes' perspective that he would want to burn that 1st year of his ELC and he would likely want some assurance that he would get a minimum of 10 games with the Canucks. His other choice to burn a year off his ELC would be to play in the NCAA, sign with the Canucks and play as Boeser and Gaudette have done. The danger with this for Hughes is that Michigan's season may go all the way to the Frozen Four and he does not get the opportunity to play with the Canucks at the end of the year.

ENTRY-LEVEL SLIDES 2017-18

If a player who is signed to an entry-level contract and is 18 or 19 years of age (as of September 15 of the signing year), does not play in a minimum of 10 NHL games (including both regular season and playoffs; AHL games do not count), their contract is considered to ‘slide’, or extend, by one year. For example, if a player signed an ELC for three seasons from 2015-16 to 2017-2018, and their contract slides, their contract is now effective from 2016-17 to 2018-19. An exception to this rule is that if the player is 19 on September 15 of the first year of their contract, and turns 20 between September 16 and December 31, their contract does not slide.
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I found a copy of an older version of the 2018 Mock Draft, from December 2017

 

Hughes was ranked at #4

Woo ranked at #28

 

Zadina was ranked #6

Kotkaniemi ranked at #15

Hayton ranked at #18

and Bouchard ranked at #26

 

 

 

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14 minutes ago, Bure_Pavel said:

Back to college for one more year please. If his brother comes to Michigan then they probably win a national championship and he needs to get stronger. As much as it would be fun to see him with the big club, no reason to risk injury.

THIS.   Let him play fewer games, have more training, player WJC and create angst by not signing until the end of the season.

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39 minutes ago, aGENT said:

If you're referring to my comments last page, I'm not 'against' him playing in the AHL at all. I just think that if the decision is made to give him another developmental year that college might be the better route as it keeps him even a little bit further out of the fishbowl of being IN the Canucks organization.

 

It also eliminates the temptation (ability) to want to call him back up (after you just decided he should develop for another year). And perhaps more importantly, stamps out what would be incessant whining from media and fans to recall him all year long.

 

IMO, it's all about what's best for his development. Is playing in the NHL the right path? Or would he be best served with more development time (more gym/practice time) in college and without the constant distraction of recalls surrounding him? 

Very good points. And we have seen many very skilled NCAA players in the past few years complete a great year in the NCAA, then turn pro late in the year and play very good hockey in the NHL. I would not be opposed to Hughes following that route.

 

However, if Jimbo, Quin, and his family / advisers decide he will turn pro now and give it a shot at getting in the Canucks line up then so be it. They would still have the opportunity to send him down to the AHL for seasoning if need be.

 

Either way, next year should be exciting for us Kanukfanatics!!

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If he wants to stay in College I am fine with that. IF he goes pro and starts the year in Utica I think that would be great also.

 

Rushing him into the NHL to fill some overpriced seats in the stands isnt worth it. Would like to see him go down to Utica so he can work with staff in our organization vs how things are done at his College school.

 

The sooner he gets into a proper NHL fitness/eating regime the better for his all around hockey game imo

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