C Jack Hughes - USNTDP (2019 Draft)

[Daximus]

Any chance he ends up playing college hockey for a year?

I think he may if it looks like his development is stalling. He is likely in the NHL in his d+1 though if things keep progressing.

 

[Stephen]

Tavares' hype level actually hit a peak in 2008 when he had that monster season, but started fizzling out a bit by his actual draft year when people questioned his skating and his junior production took a hit. Looked like he had plateaued or regressed. In some ways he kind of did because he never hit the trajectory people expected of him at age 16-17.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Tavares' hype level actually hit a peak in 2008 when he had that monster season, but started fizzling out a bit by his actual draft year when people questioned his skating and his junior production took a hit. Looked like he had plateaued or regressed. In some ways he kind of did because he never hit the trajectory people expected of him at age 16-17.

It looked to me like Tavares was just bored with the OHL by that point.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

I don't understand the NTDP team that competes in the USHL, there are separate U17 and U18 teams and each one of them plays half the USHL schedule of games? That's what it looks like, USA has played 2 games, totally different rosters, Hughes had 3 assists in his one game, a 10-5 drubbing of the Chicago Steel.

 

[ijuka]

Tavares' hype level actually hit a peak in 2008 when he had that monster season, but started fizzling out a bit by his actual draft year when people questioned his skating and his junior production took a hit. Looked like he had plateaued or regressed. In some ways he kind of did because he never hit the trajectory people expected of him at age 16-17.

You mean 2007? Scoring 134 points as a 16-year-old is a really big deal. Even McDavid didn't get close.


And yeah the USNTDP stuff is really confusing and difficult to use for comparisons between anything but other players in USNTDP. I really am not sure why such a convoluted system would be necessary but hey if it works...

 

[Daximus]

I don't understand the NTDP team that competes in the USHL, there are separate U17 and U18 teams and each one of them plays half the USHL schedule of games? That's what it looks like, USA has played 2 games, totally different rosters, Hughes had 3 assists in his one game, a 10-5 drubbing of the Chicago Steel.

It is an odd system. They also play a bunch of other National teams from other countries. Russia had a team but it was broken up. On Elite Prospects the USHL games are against USHL competition only. The USDP games are against the other USDP squad and other U18 and U17 National squads as well as some games against NAHL and NCAA competition.

So on one hand they are playing some pretty bad teams in the USHL, NAHL and even some Division 2 and Division 3 NCAA teams and on the other hand they are playing up to Division 1 teams in the NCAA. And then it also mixes in some games from the U17 World Challenge, U18 5 Nations pre-tourny, U17 Four Nations, U18 5 Nations and U17 5 Nations and U17 WJC tournaments.

Full schedule can be seen here: http://www.usahockeyntdp.com/page/show/3544119-2017-18-full-schedule

It's basically a big mish mash of one off games, USHL League Play and International tournaments.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Nice hands.

 

[Petey3329]

Tavares- captain of an NHL team. 30+ goals annually. Gold medals for team canada. I think he lived up to his potential. If Jack Hughes can do any of this then we can start comparing and contrasting the hype.

 

[ijuka]

Tavares- captain of an NHL team. 30+ goals annually. Gold medals for team canada. I think he lived up to his potential. If Jack Hughes can do any of this then we can start comparing and contrasting the hype.

He definitely did not. He was supposed to be in the Malkin tier.

 

[Petey3329]

Was he not nominated for a major trophy a couple years ago? I may be wrong. I think how can you project a kid to be a superstar? There are only so many “stars” in the NHL. He’s adapted his game. He’s become better defensively, better face off man, more reliable, a great leader. You can not predict the future. He’s in the top tier of NHL players how is that not living up to his potential. He’s pathed out an amazing career and he is still only 27. Well worth the first overall pick IMO. Not many number picks in the last 10 years much better thank he is.

 

[ijuka]

Tavares scored at a significantly higher pace than McDavid at 16 years of age.

Tavares is a "run of the mill" elite 1C instead of a top top player. Tavares is like Backstrom, Seguin, Getzlaf, what have you. That's not what he should have become.

I really like Hughes but hmm... I'm very curious if we'll see him at u18 worlds in 2018.

 

[Silver Tuna]

Don't want to continue to derail this thread but no, Tavares has not lived up to the hype. you're confusing "hype for tavares" with "is he a good first overall pick".
2 have hugely different answers

 

[Petey3329]

Who creates the hype tho? Not th player it’s media. By the time he was drafted I’m pretty sure people knew what they were getting. We had a guy on my minor hockey team (same age as Tavares) played up with us and applied for exceptional statues. When he was 14/15 media and scouts were comparing him to lindros. He didn’t pan out... not his fault. Same thing with Tavares he was and is what he is.

 

[Petey3329]

On a side note I would love to have those guys you mentioned as my run of the mill number 1 centres. All NHL superstars and I hope Jack Hughes turns into those guys. We just need to stop comparing players at the ages of 15/16 year old seasons. Everything is different now.

 

[TimeZone]

How good of a prospect is this kid? Is he Matthews good, or a step below?

 

[William H Bonney]

Hughes has 1g, 2a through 2 periods against the Green Bay Gamblers today. He's now up to 13 points (4g, 9a) in his first 7 2/3 games. It looks like the coaches have settled on lines for now now as well. They had been rotating the lines a ton to start the season. Hughes and Cole Caufield (13 points as well) have found a lot of chemistry.

Here's his nasty goal from today:



And the link since the embed is cutting off the full video.

How good of a prospect is this kid? Is he Matthews good, or a step below?

Too early to say. It's not fair to compare him to a 20 year old that is already one of the best players in the NHL.

Matthews also wasn't heralded at the same stage. He was mostly an unknown when he joined the NTDP and then he broke his femur in his second game with the U17s. Folks didn't start to really take notice until the U17 WHC (right after returning from the broken femur), and even then the Kirwan - White - Bracco line received most of the talk. By the time he joined the U18s though that season, it was clear Matthews was special.

At this point, I think it's fair to say Hughes is in the same league as the other top forwards that have ever been with the program, from Matthews to Eichel to Kane to Keller to Kessel. Where he ends up on the scale is a long ways away, but I'm excited to follow his progress.

 

[Whalers Fan]

I don't understand the NTDP team that competes in the USHL, there are separate U17 and U18 teams and each one of them plays half the USHL schedule of games? That's what it looks like, USA has played 2 games, totally different rosters, Hughes had 3 assists in his one game, a 10-5 drubbing of the Chicago Steel.

The U17 team plays most of its games versus USHL opponents, along with a couple of international tournaments against other U17 national teams. The U18 plays a combination of USHL and NCAA opponents, along with the international tournaments. The U17 team from one season becomes the U18 team the following season. The combined record of the U17 and U18 teams versus USHL opponents only is what is recorded for the program in the USHL standings.

This can make it confusing for those of us at the games (we have season tickets to the NTDP), as the squads play by the league rules of whatever opponent they are playing that day. So we see games played by USHL, NCAA and IIHF rules.

I saw Hughes play live this past weekend and was very impressed. He's going to be fun to watch play here for the next two seasons. Check out his goal in the highlight reel below starting at the 1:10 mark. He also has a nice assist on the goal by Caufield just before it.

 

[Beukeboom]

So based on the stats from his start, as of now he tops Eichel's a numbers by quite a lot and even Matthews by a lot in USHL but barely in USDP.

I understand the season has just begun. But still, it is interesting. The American prospects still fly a bit under the radar in their early years.

With all that being said I barely understand the American league system at all so just based of eliteprospect stats..

Edit: Just saw that his AAA stats were close to McDavid's. At least the Gtmm bla bla was identical but McDavid has an advantage in the Midget league stats even ppg adjusted.

Anyone has comments on his bantam play? Just like above I kind of have no clue as to how the Canadian system works. But given all the stats comparison to Eichel/Matthews/McDavid it seems this kid is not getting attention enough?

Edit2: I saw now that #97 was a year younger when he got those bantam stats. Anyway a shorter guy might also have a harder time playing against older peers.

 

[RWML67]

Stop trying to compare Hughes to McDavid.

Very good player but he’s a step below McDavid, whose types don’t come around often.

 

[JiggsNY]

There's nothing wrong with using McDavid as a benchmark. Yes McDavid is a step above, but comparing players such as Hughes to McDavid isn't to equate them but to see how talented Hughes could be in comparison, because we all know that McDavid is at the top of the ladder. Using McDavid is a way to see how high other players are on that ladder.

 

[93LEAFS]

So based on the stats from his start, as of now he tops Eichel's a numbers by quite a lot and even Matthews by a lot in USHL but barely in USDP.

I understand the season has just begun. But still, it is interesting. The American prospects still fly a bit under the radar in their early years.

With all that being said I barely understand the American league system at all so just based of eliteprospect stats..

Edit: Just saw that his AAA stats were close to McDavid's. At least the Gtmm bla bla was identical but McDavid has an advantage in the Midget league stats even ppg adjusted.

Anyone has comments on his bantam play? Just like above I kind of have no clue as to how the Canadian system works. But given all the stats comparison to Eichel/Matthews/McDavid it seems this kid is not getting attention enough?

Edit2: I saw now that #97 was a year younger when he got those bantam stats. Anyway a shorter guy might also have a harder time playing against older peers.

McDavid played a year up most of his time with the Marlies. Hughes played a year up between with the Marlies at 13 and Rebels at 14, but due to not getting exceptional status played last year with his age group. A similar thing happened with Josh Ho-Sang.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Stop trying to compare Hughes to McDavid.

Very good player but he’s a step below McDavid, whose types don’t come around often.

I watched McDavid play live numerous times from his first year in the OHL, when he entered the league a year early under the exceptional status clause, through his NHL Draft year. He was a very special player even as a 15 year old playing against much older competition in the OHL. The first time I saw him play for Erie in Plymouth he was already the best player on the ice. I agree that comparing Hughes with him is not really fair.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

The U17 team plays most of its games versus USHL opponents, along with a couple of international tournaments against other U17 national teams. The U18 plays a combination of USHL and NCAA opponents, along with the international tournaments. The U17 team from one season becomes the U18 team the following season. The combined record of the U17 and U18 teams versus USHL opponents only is what is recorded for the program in the USHL standings.

This can make it confusing for those of us at the games (we have season tickets to the NTDP), as the squads play by the league rules of whatever opponent they are playing that day. So we see games played by USHL, NCAA and IIHF rules.

I saw Hughes play live this past weekend and was very impressed. He's going to be fun to watch play here for the next two seasons. Check out his goal in the highlight reel below starting at the 1:10 mark. He also has a nice assist on the goal by Caufield just before it.

The NTDP team takes part in the USHL playoffs? If so is it a mixed roster of U17 and U18?

 

[Whalers Fan]

The NTDP team takes part in the USHL playoffs? If so is it a mixed roster of U17 and U18?

If the NTDP qualifies for the USHL playoffs, the U17 squad represents the program in the postseason. The U18 team always plays in the IIHF U18 World Championship in the spring when the USHL playoffs occur.

Since the program relocated from Ann Arbor to Plymouth in 2015 they have yet to qualify for the USHL playoffs, as most of the program's USHL games are played by the younger U17 squad. That younger team usually loses most of its early games as they get used to playing much older competition. However, with this year's U17 team getting off to such a great start -- they have not lost a game yet -- we may see USHL postseason games finally this spring. The last time the NTDP qualified for the USHL playoffs was when Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel and Dylan Larkin were with the program.

That is one of the biggest things I have missed since the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League were sold and relocated to Flint -- playoff hockey. We do get at least one international tournament hosted here per year, though, which is something we did not get when the Whalers were here.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

If the NTDP qualifies for the USHL playoffs, the U17 squad represents the program in the postseason. The U18 team always plays in the IIHF U18 World Championship in the spring when the USHL playoffs occur.

Since the program relocated from Ann Arbor to Plymouth in 2015 they have yet to qualify for the USHL playoffs, as most of the program's USHL games are played by the younger U17 squad. That younger team usually loses most of its early games as they get used to playing much older competition. However, with this year's U17 team getting off to such a great start -- they have not lost a game yet -- we may see USHL postseason games finally this spring. The last time the NTDP qualified for the USHL playoffs was when Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel and Dylan Larkin were with the program.

That is one of the biggest things I have missed since the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League were sold and relocated to Flint -- playoff hockey. We do get at least one international tournament hosted here per year, though, which is something we did not get when the Whalers were here.

Pretty cool to live in a small city and have the NTDP based there - would rather have that than an OHL team.