Prospect Info: 2021 Devils-Centric Mock Draft 2.0 for May

[TonySoprano]

If a queef were able to speak, it would sound exactly like Rachel. The way she said the devils would be forced to take him makes it definitely sound like she has a hard on for the Hughes family. Jack probably asked her to show him her boobs

yeah probably. She probably storked his whole lyfe on the boredwhalk

 

[Triumph]

Did you even listen to the interview? "Did a character recon"?

Yeah, so she asked people she knew in the industry about this guy, and none of them with indirect connections had good things to say. I don't know what's surprising or appalling about this.

 

[Lou is God]

Yeah, so she asked people she knew in the industry about this guy, and none of them with direct connections had good things to say. I don't know what's surprising or appalling about this.

Or believable. If you're going to come out with damning accusations, back it up or don't sell it.

 

[Goptor]

If Rachel has heard info about Luke Hughes, you can bet most hockey scouts covering him have heard about it too.

 

[Blackjack]

Rachel has said some negative things about Harris and Blitzer being out of touch billionaires, which doesn't seem at all unreasonable, and it's also been implied that her and Shero didn't really get along. But she's has had nothing but positive things to say about her personal interactions with Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, Brian Boyle, Joey Anderson, and other guys she's been around. So I don't think it's fair to characterize her as someone with an axe to grind. I always got the impression that she's a person with very strong opinions and that rubbed our shot callers the wrong way.

I'm not accusing her of having an axe to grind, but I think her comments are irresponsible. She basically said that no one except for his family has anything nice to say about him. I'm sorry, but to me that's an extremely shitty comment to make about someone. If there are specific issues, call them out. If not, and you've just got a bunch of people relaying 3rd hand stories about a semi-famous person they sort of know, that shit shouldn't be repeated.

We all saw the video of Jack asking someone to show him their tits. That bothered me, but without any more context than that, I gave him a bit of a pass. I'm not sure if he's matured since then, or just does a good job of keeping that side of him away from scrutiny, but I think criticizing something like that is much more legitimate than what Rachel did.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

You're kidding yourself if you don't think scouts talk in these terms all the time, and if it weren't about the brother of a Devils player, no eyes would be batted.

Do scouts use their social media platform to do so?

 

[Triumph]

Or believable. If you're going to come out with damning accusations, back it up or don't sell it.

You've got to be kidding. This is how the industry operates all the time, in all of the sports - coaches of would-be draft picks seldom enumerate their negatives publicly, but that information gets around, and teams can do with it what they will.

This pretend naivete doesn't fly, and again, if the source weren't the source, and the player not the player, none of you would've said a thing about it.

 

[Oneiro]

I don't really care about the character recon part as much as the being forced to take Luke bit, which implies the process is messed up here. Or could be an innocent joke. I haven't listened to the full podcast yet.

Yeah, she's spoken highly of Grier, Boyle,, etc. but there have been some side shots re: player utilization, tactics, I remember in the aftermath of the Shero firing.

 

[OmNomNom]

Or believable. If you're going to come out with damning accusations, back it up or don't sell it.

but if she backed it up w evidence, then it's straight up slander and we'd be trashing her for going into specifics, and say she clearly has an agenda against him

i doubt it's anything groundbreaking though, like i don't think he give a kid a swirly or hurled racist terms at someone else. if it was, THAT'S worth coming out in detail for

all this to say who really cares - he's not even our player (yet)

 

[Lou is God]

You've got to be kidding. This is how the industry operates all the time, in all of the sports - coaches of would-be draft picks seldom enumerate their negatives publicly, but that information gets around, and teams can do with it what they will.

This pretend naivete doesn't fly, and again, if the source weren't the source, and the player not the player, none of you would've said a thing about it.

I'm not talking about what is said behind the scenes, I'm talking about coming out and calling out a teenager's rep publicly when one has never met the kid, a prominent NFL analyst caught holy hell for doing just that on Justin Fields right before the draft and he is far from a teenager.

 

[Lou is God]

but if she backed it up w evidence, then it's straight up slander and we'd be trashing her for going into specifics, and say she clearly has an agenda against him

i doubt it's anything groundbreaking though, like i don't think he give a kid a swirly or hurled racist terms at someone else. if it was, THAT'S worth coming out in detail for

all this to say who really cares - he's not even our player (yet)

And that's called putting yourself in a no-win situation, if you can't speak on details, don't speak. Judge him on what you see

And I for the record find myself rooting for us to take Clarke.

 

[Blackjack]

but if she backed it up w evidence, then it's straight up slander and we'd be trashing her for going into specifics, and say she clearly has an agenda against him

i doubt it's anything groundbreaking though, like i don't think he give a kid a swirly or hurled racist terms at someone else. if it was, THAT'S worth coming out in detail for

all this to say who really cares - he's not even our player (yet)

What?? That's not what slander is. Specific allegations give the player an opportunity to defend themselves. This shit doesn't. That's the difference.

Also, this isn't directed at you, but some of the other comments I've seen: if you don't know the difference between scouts having a private conversation about a kid's character with the GM and going on a podcast and saying "lol everyone seems to think this guy's a shithead." I don't know what to say to you.

 

[Triumph]

I'm not talking about what is said behind the scenes, I'm talking about coming out and calling out a teenager's rep publicly when one has never met the kid, a prominent NFL analyst caught holy hell for doing just that on Justin Fields right before the draft and he is far from a teenager.

You're reading into what's not there. All that was said was that she hasn't heard any good things, which, by inference, usually means bad things. That's it. That was her take, others will differ. She hasn't been an employee of an NHL team in several years, and who knows what her sources are about this info. If you want to say she's making them up, fine.

 

[Triumph]

What?? That's not what slander is. Specific allegations give the player an opportunity to defend themselves. This shit doesn't. That's the difference.

Also, this isn't directed at you, but some of the other comments I've seen: if you don't know the difference between scouts having a private conversation about a kid's character with the GM and going on a podcast and saying "lol everyone seems to think this guy's a shithead." I don't know what to say to you.

Again, not what was said. When you blow things out of proportion and react to them as if they were the thing that was said, I agree it sounds pretty outrageous.

In addition, you are being naive if you don't think this stuff gets out there every year.

 

[R8Devs]

even without the connections I would think Clarke, Hughes, and Eklund are really good fits for this team and you can argue any one of them could be BPA and belong in the tier 1 of this draft class so I'd be fine with any of them and there should be a decent chance that at least one of them if the Devils don't move down two spots.

 

[Devils731]

I’m generally not a fan of people saying they’ve heard bad things but won’t go into specifics. My own bias is I tend to think the speaker wants people to assume the bad things are worse than they really are, in that case.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Rachel has said some negative things about Harris and Blitzer being out of touch billionaires, which doesn't seem at all unreasonable, and it's also been implied that her and Shero didn't really get along. But she's has had nothing but positive things to say about her personal interactions with Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, Brian Boyle, Joey Anderson, and other guys she's been around. So I don't think it's fair to characterize her as someone with an axe to grind. I always got the impression that she's a person with very strong opinions and that rubbed our shot callers the wrong way.

In fact I think it's a little weird that she offers up a criticism of a prospect we haven't even drafted yet - a criticism that is seemingly echoed by other experts - and people are eager to assign ulterior motives and call her a hater or whatever. If she said the same thing about Owen Power no one on here would care, but because she's criticizing Jack's brother everyone on here is rushing to question it.

In regards to "character issues", that's something that's really hard to evaluate unless you know specifically of what they mean. If she just means he's a sheltered privileged little shithead jock, then yeah that's annoying and I wouldn't want to hang out with him but I don't think it's necessarily disqualifying for an NHL player. In fact I'd say the vast majority of NHL players are likely not good dudes, I know the ones I've met have been total assholes with the exception of two. And I can totally understand why a woman would be less likely to be persuaded by the "boys will be boys and they'll grow out of it" excuse.

But if it's more serious than just being an entitled teenaged brat, then it needs to be taken seriously and I think that it will. At this point I trust Castron to do his due diligence and I trust Lindy Ruff to handle his room.

Who echoed this criticism?

It's also not just she's saying this about Jack's brother, she also says she's thinks the Devils are going to "be forced" to take him before Vancouver has a chance to while chuckling a bit, to a canucks fans podcast host, seemingly relishing the opportunity to badmouth the kid.

If she has an axe to grind with the NJ organization it could be reflected here, I don't know this person but this didn't really strike me as your standard "heard it through the grapevine" scouting talk.

 

[Lou is God]

You're reading into what's not there. All that was said was that she hasn't heard any good things, which, by inference, usually means bad things. That's it. That was her take, others will differ. She hasn't been an employee of an NHL team in several years, and who knows what her sources are about this info. If you want to say she's making them up, fine.

Dude, she said she did a character recon on him and then she trashed it lol

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Couldn’t give less of a shit about non specific “character concerns” from unnamed sources. I don’t know what that even means. I just assume most elite athletes (particularly ones that grew up very well off) are entitled little shits.

 

[Darkauron]

I dont care who the prospect or player is, but without specifics or sources or anything it is just a load of garbage. And the fact that ive not heard anyone or anything else mention any character issues at all.

 

[Lou is God]

Couldn’t give less of a shit about non specific “character concerns” from unnamed sources. I don’t know what that even means. I just assume most elite athletes (particularly ones that grew up very well off) are entitled little shits.

We heard the same things about Jack and they might even be true but they're also teenagers and sometimes they can give the wrong impression, this is really nothing like players in the NFL draft where most are 21 and 22 and have matured. I have six nephews with the youngest now being 15 and they all have had their little snot nosed moments in their teenage years lol.

 

[Triumph]

Dude, she said she did a character recon on him and then she trashed it lol

She was asked who she wouldn't take. She offered up Hughes and gave her reasoning why, just saying that people didn't have good stuff to say about him unless they had something to gain by that. She didn't think he would be available anyway. 'Forced' is glib language but given how Jack spoke publicly the other day about the Devils selecting his brother, it's not hard to read into that as strong pressure on the organization to take Luke if he is available when the Devils select.

You can all reinsert your monocles and proceed with your day.

 

[My3Sons]

We heard the same things about Jack and they might even be true but they're also teenagers and sometimes they can give the wrong impression, this is really nothing like players in the NFL draft where most are 21 and 22 and have matured. I have six nephews with the youngest now being 15 and they all have had their little snot nosed moments in their teenage years lol.

No team will have more insight into Luke Hughes than NJ and VAN. If NJ is ok with Jack my guess is that they will be ok with Luke. Maybe they are entitled kids who are dismissive of fans and people outside their inner orbit. They can grow out of that and more importantly, the team cares mostly about how they interact with teammates and coaches. I'm sure the Hughes boys are smart enough to know when to behave. I'll also offer a different view. Jack is outspoken at times and can be a bit ahead of himself when speaking (his Holtz needs to step up and start scoring statement comes to mind). Is that bad? Not necessarily. It's his way of showing commitment and, in his mind, leadership. That sort of approach will rub some people the wrong way. He's in a young locker room and likely one of the guys though so it doesn't seem like a big deal in the way the players' social media releases portray him. Maybe it's just that he's demanding and sees the world in stark terms and isn't shy about letting people know that. He'll likely temper that as he matures but in the hockey world where you are supposed to only speak when spoken to as a young player and even then only offer platitudes and cliches I could see that being labeled as a "character" issue. At this point with Jack two years into his career it's hard to see that as a stumbling block for NJ.

 

[My3Sons]

She was asked who she wouldn't take. She offered up Hughes and gave her reasoning why, just saying that people didn't have good stuff to say about him unless they had something to gain by that. She didn't think he would be available anyway. 'Forced' is glib language but given how Jack spoke publicly the other day about the Devils selecting his brother, it's not hard to read into that as strong pressure on the organization to take Luke if he is available when the Devils select.

You can all reinsert your monocles and proceed with your day.

I wear a monocle over my eyepatch. Sometimes it falls off and I can't tell so thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Lou is God]

She was asked who she wouldn't take. She offered up Hughes and gave her reasoning why, just saying that people didn't have good stuff to say about him unless they had something to gain by that. She didn't think he would be available anyway. 'Forced' is glib language but given how Jack spoke publicly the other day about the Devils selecting his brother, it's not hard to read into that as strong pressure on the organization to take Luke if he is available when the Devils select.

You can all reinsert your monocles and proceed with your day.

And while we reinsert our monocles you can reinsert your hearing aid and listen again to this soundbite where she said she did a "character recon" on Hughes and "didn't hear a single good thing back from anyone who wasn't related or connected to him".

She wasn't talking about his game which is fair game, she was clearly judging him on his character, she even used the word "character".

And I do agree with her on if Luke is there we will take him no matter what, I never even brought that up.