C Jack Hughes - USNTDP (2019 Draft)

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McMatthews

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Sep 12, 2007
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I think he means as prospects.

John Tavares' potential circa 2009 was sky-high. Yes, McDavid high.

I remember the Tavares hype from the time he was 14 years old and Bob McKenzie did a bit on the lacrosse players nephew.

I know the hype. I'm from Ontario.

But at no point, since Crosby, has a prospect rivaled the potential and hype of McDavid.

Tavares is closer to Eichel/Matthews than he is McDavid.
 

93LEAFS

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Nov 7, 2009
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They made the EP rule for John.

McDavid got it.

Hughes was Denied it.

That's all anyone needs to know about where Hughes ranks compared to the other 2
Sort of, they brought it back after they stopped it being used in the mid-90's where a kid could play for his local OHL team in his 15-year-old season. Spezza and Fata used this rule. This process they implemented for Tavares made it more selective and directly entered them into the draft (which meant they moved away from home at 15).

Tavares was hyped, but it was always somewhat of a debate who would be better between him and Stamkos, who was the same age and both lived in the GTA, and played a year above them most of their time coming up.

McDavid hype surpassed Tavares for a variety of reasons. Tavares's skating was highly questioned, which led some to believe he might have to be a winger at the next level. Tavares was cut from Team Canada's WJC team as a 16-year-old, while most very highly hyped players have made it at that age McDavid included, (also includes Gretzky, Lindros, Spezza, and Bouwmeester).

Hughes is a very promising prospect, but it would be a shock to see him get an invite to the USA's main WJC camp, which both McDavid and Tavares got at 16 for Canada. He's a promising prospect, but he's far from a lock to even go top 5 in his class right now. He has a lot of stiff competition he will have to fend off. At the same age, it would have taken a pretty extreme scenario for either McDavid or Tavares to be knocked out of the top 5 of their draft class.

Also, Tavares hype at 16 far exceeded his hype at his draft date. At the time of his draft there were serious discussion's on whether Matt Duchene had more upside and a strong argument for Hedman to go 1OA.
 

AmericanDream

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Oct 24, 2005
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They made the EP rule for John.

McDavid got it.

Hughes was Denied it.

That's all anyone needs to know about where Hughes ranks compared to the other 2

disagree.

CHL is just being much more careful when handing these out. After Sean Day getting one, the guidelines have been much tougher.

Hughes was/is every bit as good as Tavares was, and in all honesty should have gotten the exception - BUT, he is an American born kid - until I see the day the CHL hands an exception over to an American born kid, I will believe it. Hughes as of right now is a lock for #1 overall, a lot of time for that to change, but he is the big fish of his draft.

Sean Day couldn't represent the US at the time of his exception status, now he can and seems to only be representing the US moving forward which is a difference.

very excited to see Hughes this year for the USNDP, if he plays like I think he will he will be up with the u-18 in no time.
 
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tony d

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Tavares as a prospect was hyped very strongly. Maybe not as much as Mcdavid but still the guy had plenty of hype surrounding him going into his draft year.
 

AmericanDream

Thank you Elon!
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Tavares as a prospect was hyped very strongly. Maybe not as much as Mcdavid but still the guy had plenty of hype surrounding him going into his draft year.

Tavares was most certainly that.

For those of us who have been on this site for a decade, he was the first name outside of Crosby I can recall to receive the hype he did...it was near legendary at the time.

For me, Hughes is well on par statistically and how he plays the game as Tavares was at the same age - I am happy where Hughes is at as the USNDP does very well for high end talent - Kane, Eichel, Matthews, Keller, Jones, etc...

Just keep an eye on this kid over the next year plus, he is the real deal.
 

Cotton

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May 13, 2013
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Tavares was most certainly that.

For those of us who have been on this site for a decade, he was the first name outside of Crosby I can recall to receive the hype he did...it was near legendary at the time.

For me, Hughes is well on par statistically and how he plays the game as Tavares was at the same age - I am happy where Hughes is at as the USNDP does very well for high end talent - Kane, Eichel, Matthews, Keller, Jones, etc...

Just keep an eye on this kid over the next year plus, he is the real deal.

I have to ask, how have you been able to watch him?
 
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Daximus

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10 assists in 5 total games so far, one against USHL competition. No goals yet but he is definitely more of a pass first kind of player.
 

Juxtaposer

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10 assists in 5 total games so far, one against USHL competition. No goals yet but he is definitely more of a pass first kind of player.

That’s pretty nuts. The U17s typically spend a lot of time losing and not scoring, especially at the beginning of the season. Very impressive to see him score this much, hopefully he’s the real deal. If he’s a Matthews/Eichel type of talent then the US is set up the middle for the next decade.
 

Stew

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Oct 15, 2017
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Tavares was a better player than Hughes at 14 and 15. Most likely better at 16 as well. However Tavares doesn't have the skating ability of Hughes or McDavid (although he has improved a ton in this area over the years). His hands are not as quick as Hughes or McDavid at the same age either. Tavares is one of the best all around players in the NHL but is not a superstar offensive player. Hughes has a chance to be a better offensive player than Tavares at the NHL level. Not quite at McDavid's level but no one is. All 3 are amazing players that you want on your team.
 

Critical13

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Feb 25, 2017
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I remember the Tavares hype from the time he was 14 years old and Bob McKenzie did a bit on the lacrosse players nephew.

I know the hype. I'm from Ontario.

But at no point, since Crosby, has a prospect rivaled the potential and hype of McDavid.

Tavares is closer to Eichel/Matthews than he is McDavid.

Not how I remember it to be honest. John Tavares was hyped at such a young age, we all watched him grow. At least equal to McDavid, at least in my circles.
 

DesmondDekker

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Sep 11, 2006
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Not how I remember it to be honest. John Tavares was hyped at such a young age, we all watched him grow. At least equal to McDavid, at least in my circles.

I feel the same way about JT. In my books, he has been the most hyped hockey prospect not named Crosby or McDavid in the past 15 years. You don't see 14-year-old players score 45 goals in the OHL every year that's for sure, nor do you see prospects score 72 goals in their draft-minus-2 year. His numbers were crazy enough to justify the hype. I don't get the same vibe from Hughes at all, but he is still a great prospect, maybe just not franchise caliber.
 
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Dominance

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Sep 30, 2017
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I feel the same way about JT. In my books, he has been the most hyped hockey prospect not named Crosby or McDavid in the past 15 years. You don't see 14-year-old players score 45 goals in the OHL every year that's for sure, nor do you see prospects score 72 goals in their draft-minus-2 year. His numbers were crazy enough to justify the hype. I don't get the same vibe from Hughes at all, but he is still a great prospect, maybe just not franchise caliber.
Yep. I clearly play too much EA NHL games, because I like to think of players and prospects that way. In that way, Tavares has medium-franchises potential, whereas I see Hughes as having high-elite potential. Still extremely good and likely to go first overall in their draft years, but a shade behind in terms of projectability.
 

JiggsNY

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Sep 14, 2016
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Any chance he ends up playing college hockey for a year?
idk, i feel like that's hard to predict. growing up in Toronto and playing there he could play in the OHL after finishing with the USNTDP. but also after 2 years in the US national program, i feel like they push the college route hard to those kids, and the large majority of those kids will be going the college route maybe he buys into it. Not to mention his brother Quinn is going to Michigan, so maybe that could weigh the options to one side too.
 
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