[VIDEO] Kaapo Kakko: All of His Goals, Assists, Greatest Plays of the 2018-19 Liiga season. Over 60 Plays On Full Display. Why the Canucks Must Pick Him Over Hughes (if in that situation).

[IBatch]

17 minutes ago, stawns said:

Sportsnet

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/sports-nets-2019-nhl-draft-prospect-rankings-march/

March ISS ranking has Hughes ahead ... couldn’t get your link to work but I assume your saying sportsnet has Kakko ahead now...that’s one can your find another one?i

 

edit:  decent read.  There is one site that has them ahead...but this is sportsnet, not a hockey specific network.  I’d be interested to see what THN has to say with their next future watch report or their draft preview coming up, and I’d take the ISS over them anyday..and their first Wednesday or the month update still has Hughes on top.  Eliteprospects, McKeens too...Mckenzies list will be interesting too. 

 

Personally I’m hoping Byram is still around for us...not many defenseman can score 30 goals in any league..and in a 68 game season no less

[appleboy]

1 minute ago, IBatch said:

March ISS ranking has Hughes ahead ... couldn’t get your link to work but I assume your saying sportsnet has Kakko ahead now...that’s one can your find another one?

Sportsnet is the one. Stawns put the link for you. Things have been changing a bit over the last few weeks. You just have to keep searching. I had found another site that was listing Kaako number one but I can't find it today. I guess it all depends on what teams are looking for. Centers almost always go higher. Kaako is breaking records in the league that he is in for his age class. Just like Petey did last year but he is a year younger. Different league, Finish not Swedish.

He is a prospect who  would probably walk into the nhl next year. It is him and Hughes , then the rest. He has the size and is an elite skater.

[ktcy2]

If we pick Hughes can we play him on wing? We can’t have horvat down on the third line position. Is this somethjnf we should think about, given that captaincy most likely will go to Horvat 

[Isam]

28 minutes ago, IBatch said:

March ISS ranking has Hughes ahead ... couldn’t get your link to work but I assume your saying sportsnet has Kakko ahead now...that’s one can your find another one?i

 

edit:  decent read.  There is one site that has them ahead...but this is sportsnet, not a hockey specific network.  I’d be interested to see what THN has to say with their next future watch report or their draft preview coming up, and I’d take the ISS over them anyday..and their first Wednesday or the month update still has Hughes on top.  Eliteprospects, McKeens too...Mckenzies list will be interesting too. 

 

Personally I’m hoping Byram is still around for us...not many defenseman can score 30 goals in any league..and in a 68 game season no less

You can add hockeyprospect to your list of people supporting. 

[IBatch]

6 minutes ago, appleboy said:

Sportsnet is the one. Stawns put the link for you. Things have been changing a bit over the last few weeks. You just have to keep searching. I had found another site that was listing Kaako number one but I can't find it today. I guess it all depends on what teams are looking for. Centers almost always go higher. Kaako is breaking records in the league that he is in for his age class. Just like Petey did last year but he is a year younger. Different league, Finish not Swedish.

He is a prospect who  would probably walk into the nhl next year. It is him and Hughes , then the rest. He has the size and is an elite skater.

What record exactly is he breaking?  Barkov and others have a higher PPG...yes he’s a good rookie prospect no doubt, but he’s more in Hirshier/Nolan Patrick territory then the next level up...which would be Hughes.  At least that how I see it, and almost all of the people that make a living doing this for a living.  I’ve been following prospects for twenty years now, do it mostly for fun and hockey pools and I’m always wary and cautious when someone has a killer WJs and moves up.  Just for fun go back tot he start of the year and see the movement of the top fifteen or so... not to say he’s not having a great year, but so are others and the idea that Kakko has overtaken Hughes as the top prospect is still very much in the minority.  Also sources vary from ok to excellent, I’d want to see what THN a future watch and draft preview have to say, they use a panel of up to fifty of the top scouts in the league (that are one NHL teams) and make an average in creating their draft...they and the ISS are right at the tippy top of the scale when it comes to these things, if they move Kakko to the top it would be a big validation to the OP..until then I’m sticking with Hughes.

[IBatch]

5 minutes ago, Isam said:

You can add hockeyprospect to your list of people supporting. 

Hockeyprospect Feb 28th has Hughes as number one and is the most recent ranking from them...do you have a link?

[Elias Pettersson]

Best case scenario is we get the second pick, Colorado drafts first and takes Kakko due to Finnish connection with Rantanen.  We then select Hughes and Aquilini has his new brother tandem which will help tremendously in the marketing of the team.  The two are so close I am sure Aquilini would prefer Hughes as the revenue from the marketing aspect would be huge.

 

We can then look to Colorado to make a major trade to upgrade our defence.  They have the Finnish connection and they need more mobile defenders while we need bigger defenders, so we trade Juolevi and a pick or prospect to Colorado for Nikita Zadorov.  Then we offer a big money deal to Tryamkin to entice him to come back.  We then have the Hughes brothers and the Russian twin towers.  From a marketing perspective that is gold for Aquilini.  From a team perspective the Hughes brothers would make our power play dynamic and one of the best in the NHL while the Russian twin towers can form one of the better more aggressive top pairings in the NHL.

 

That's how I see it and that's what I'm hoping for.

[Isam]

Just now, IBatch said:

Hockeyprospect Feb 28th has Hughes as number one and is the most recent ranking from them...do you have a link?

No. Not off hand. And the febuary 28th one is their most recent link. They generally do em later then everyone else. But you can talk to mark black on the hfboards to see if anything has changed. 

[appleboy]

5 minutes ago, IBatch said:

What record exactly is he breaking?  Barkov and others have a higher PPG...yes he’s a good rookie prospect no doubt, but he’s more in Hirshier/Nolan Patrick territory then the next level up...which would be Hughes.  At least that how I see it, and almost all of the people that make a living doing this for a living.  I’ve been following prospects for twenty years now, do it mostly for fun and hockey pools and I’m always wary and cautious when someone has a killer WJs and moves up.  Just for fun go back tot he start of the year and see the movement of the top fifteen or so... not to say he’s not having a great year, but so are others and the idea that Kakko has overtaken Hughes as the top prospect is still very much in the minority.  Also sources vary from ok to excellent, I’d want to see what THN a future watch and draft preview have to say, they use a panel of up to fifty of the top scouts in the league (that are one NHL teams) and make an average in creating their draft...they and the ISS are right at the tippy top of the scale when it comes to these things, if they move Kakko to the top it would be a big validation to the OP..until then I’m sticking with Hughes.

Not records , you are right but he is out scoring players like Liane and ….   Barkov had a higher PPG, you are right.

I am also hopping for Byram. We need to solve the D from with in. 

[IBatch]

Just curious if we had the first overall pick how many people would want Kakko over Hughes?  The Hughes Brothers  has a pretty good ring to it and I doubt Benning would draft anyone other then him, it would give us pop down the middle three lines deep like the best teams in the league have, or we could load one line up OR have two scoring lines by moving EP to the wing and Boeser back with Horvat.  

 

I also think Byram is going to be one heck of a defenseman and is more realistically going to be picked around where we will pick...there is definitely going to be a good level of talent available in the top ten.  

 

Kakko will be a great talent too, and is arguably at least as NHL ready as anyone in the draft...and we do need wingers..it’s a slim chance we have a shot at the top two, but it’s also a slim chance we move down again, already the odds say that what has happened the past three drafts is only .33% likely (us getting boned each time and not moving up once, or staying in our spot once).

[appleboy]

4 minutes ago, IBatch said:

Just curious if we had the first overall pick how many people would want Kakko over Hughes?  The Hughes Brothers  has a pretty good ring to it and I doubt Benning would draft anyone other then him, it would give us pop down the middle three lines deep like the best teams in the league have, or we could load one line up OR have two scoring lines by moving EP to the wing and Boeser back with Horvat.  

 

I also think Byram is going to be one heck of a defenseman and is more realistically going to be picked around where we will pick...there is definitely going to be a good level of talent available in the top ten.  

 

Kakko will be a great talent too, and is arguably at least as NHL ready as anyone in the draft...and we do need wingers..it’s a slim chance we have a shot at the top two, but it’s also a slim chance we move down again, already the odds say that what has happened the past three drafts is only .33% likely (us getting boned each time and not moving up once, or staying in our spot once).

I would try to trade down for Byram and hopefully get a second first. If Colorado wanted Kaako I would offer them the first for their two picks. They would be no lower then 4th and that is the highest that I have seen Byram . We could select Kaako and then if Byram was there at the pick that they had we could flip him for their picks. That would ensure that we either got Kaako or Byram and a second mid round first.

[flat land fish]

I like Kakko over Hughes more goal scoring and size.  I’m not sure Hughes is a center in the nhl and even with the trend towards smaller players continues if you have two similar prospects go with the guy who projects for playoff hockey where the rule book can go out the window.

[MikeyD]

Kakko has better hands and maybe a shot but that's about it in my opinion. Hughes has much better iq, his game will translate much better to the NHL standard (Kakko's display of hands are clearly against really weak defensive talent who quite frankly look lost out there) and he won't be able to pull off even a tenth of those highlights against NHL level players. Hughes hasn't progressed though like some would like this year so Kakko is ahead on some peoples' radars but I think the difference in skill level these guys are playing against needs to be looked at. Kakko would be great on a powerplay, but 5 on 5 I cant see his game translating on a smaller ice surface of he plays like that. He'll be good, but I also feel like he'll end up maybe 4th in a redraft. Kind of reminds me of a Nail Yakupov type pick. Good skill, but the iq isn't nhl ready yet in my opinion. He is a smarter player than Yak though. 

[appleboy]

Hughes and Kaako are quality players and they are a little bit a head of everyone else.  That does not mean that a player selected lower won't eventually become the best NHL player taken in this draft. There is no generational talents in this one. Turcotte , Byram and Harley could turn out to be the best NHL players in a few years. 

That's the kind of draft this is.

[MikeyD]

16 hours ago, *Buzzsaw* said:

Personally I would be happy with Philip Broberg.

 

He has been moving up the European charts. 

 

He is big, fast, physical, has incredible puck carrying skills and a wicked wrister.  And he is more than capable in his own zone.

 

He fits exactly what this team needs... a 1/2 D... if he is partnered with Hughes, you have a double threat.

 

The idea that Boeser should be offered in a trade for Hughes is a bad idea... losing one of the Canucks key pieces just to move up to a small forward who might not pan out...  a risky gamble. 

 

As risky as that is, I'd take it. I, however, don't believe the other team would take it either. Super ballsy move though. 

[appleboy]

Broberg is another defenseman who could really pan out. By what I have red he is not being given huge minutes but is still showing well against men.

 

If Boeser was to be traded  for a top three pick it would not to just move up. It would be for the pick plus a second or third.  He is a proven scorer at the beginning of his career.

[stawns]

33 minutes ago, IBatch said:

Just curious if we had the first overall pick how many people would want Kakko over Hughes?  The Hughes Brothers  has a pretty good ring to it and I doubt Benning would draft anyone other then him, it would give us pop down the middle three lines deep like the best teams in the league have, or we could load one line up OR have two scoring lines by moving EP to the wing and Boeser back with Horvat.  

 

I also think Byram is going to be one heck of a defenseman and is more realistically going to be picked around where we will pick...there is definitely going to be a good level of talent available in the top ten.  

 

Kakko will be a great talent too, and is arguably at least as NHL ready as anyone in the draft...and we do need wingers..it’s a slim chance we have a shot at the top two, but it’s also a slim chance we move down again, already the odds say that what has happened the past three drafts is only .33% likely (us getting boned each time and not moving up once, or staying in our spot once).

Kakko all day.  I'm not convinced Hughes is going to be as effective an NHL'er as people think.  

[LowerMainLander18]

Kakko or Hughes..

We gotta win the draft lotto first before thinking so much far ahead.

 

They both looked great in last world juniors tho.. Well deserved praises from both scouts and fans.

[stawns]

25 minutes ago, MikeyD said:

Kakko has better hands and maybe a shot but that's about it in my opinion. Hughes has much better iq, his game will translate much better to the NHL standard (Kakko's display of hands are clearly against really weak defensive talent who quite frankly look lost out there) and he won't be able to pull off even a tenth of those highlights against NHL level players. Hughes hasn't progressed though like some would like this year so Kakko is ahead on some peoples' radars but I think the difference in skill level these guys are playing against needs to be looked at. Kakko would be great on a powerplay, but 5 on 5 I cant see his game translating on a smaller ice surface of he plays like that. He'll be good, but I also feel like he'll end up maybe 4th in a redraft. Kind of reminds me of a Nail Yakupov type pick. Good skill, but the iq isn't nhl ready yet in my opinion. He is a smarter player than Yak though. 

Kakko is playing in a pro League, against men.  Hughes plays in what is, essentially, a Jr A league

[stawns]

1 minute ago, LowerMainLander18 said:

Kakko or Hughes..

We gotta win the draft lotto first before thinking so much far ahead.

 

They both looked great in last world juniors tho.. Well deserved praises from both scouts and fans.

I didn't think Hughes looked good at all, Madden was much better.  Obviously Hughes gets a pass because wasn't remotely healthy.