GDT: Devils @ Rangers - 7:00 PM - MSG

[TheBeerNerd]

I can't use an ad blocker as I'm usually on my work PC or phone, but $12 a year to become a sponsor and not have to deal with ads on this site is a sound investment for anyone that's frequently on HF.

I use UBlock for work regardless and an anonymous window for posting here. That said, $12/year is quite the bargain.

 

[MartyOwns]

which one of you did this?

 

[Lou is God]

 

[Dylan9z9]

View attachment 939295

Hey! it's hard to be a saint in the city.

 

[Dylan9z9]

Yeah some Rangers fans apparently are outraged at Jack for trying the Peter Forsberg move on Shesty on his breakaway and at Hamilton for his finger wagging celebration of his goal.

As to Jack that’s crazy. Get pissed over a guy trying a deke that failed? Have never run into this before. Displaced Fan Anger at having lost the game, okay, but projected that far? Jerks.

Actually it was that idiot Steve Vallequette who said it during the intermission break. He was practically crying because the Rangers were getting a beat down by the Devils.

 

[njdevils1982]

KAAKO!!!!!

 

[StevenToddIves]

I'm probably wrong about this 'cause I forgot what his projection was ( @StevenToddIves perhaps remembers?) but to me, Crappo ceiling is that of a 2nd-liner. That's it.

I took some heat -- even here -- for calling 2019 The Jack Hughes Draft and saying again and again there were several tiers between Hughes and Kakko. There were angered reactions when, after the Devils won the lottery, I refused to write about any possibilities for #1 overall aside from Hughes. I took more heat when I said that, although Hughes was as clear cut a #1 overall as imaginable, Kakko should not be considered a clear-cut #2 because I considered it pretty tight between #2 and #5 overall.

None of this was a slight on Kakko, whom I considered an excellent prospect. I thought he'd be a two-way, PPG top 6 F with size -- sort of what 2019 Minnesota 1st rounder Matt Boldy has become.

I think sometimes we get caught up in hype and forget to truly consider all possibilities. Which is to say, if you look back at 2018-19 film of Kakko and Boldy, they should have been considered about even back then. I literally have used my failure in thinking Kakko was flat-out better than Boldy as an educational tool for myself in ensuing drafts. The lesson is: watch the film without prejudice of who is ranked where; rather, just base the players on their skills, intangibles and NHL potential.

I still think, in the right situation, Kakko can be a nice two-way, 50-point, 2nd/3rd line winger. But he's also become a bit of a cautionary tale for certain hockey "experts". Steven Valiquette's ludicrous take on the 2019 draft indoctrinated the most gullible Rangers fans. I remember texting with a good Fair Lawn NJ buddy of mine who is a huge Rangers fan, and he was literally embarrassed that the fanbase was convinced Kakko would be better than Hughes.

People are too lazy to spend any time doing research for themselves. They watch two highlight clips after listening (and becoming biased) by an "expert" whose research was watching eight highlight clips. I suppose that's not just hockey drafts anymore, that's all news in general.

Despite being as convinced Hughes was superior to Kakko as I've ever been convinced of anything, I look back on the 2019 draft in general as learning tool. I really missed in a few places (I had Kakko #2, Turcotte #4, Boldy just out of the top 10, McMichael just outside of the top 20, Jamieson Rees in my top 20, Case McCarthy in the early 2nd). But I also nailed a few things -- Hughes, Seider, Caufield, Helleson, Dorofeyev, Broberg outside the top 20 when other people had him top 5 and I was the only person I recall ranking both Seider and Harley higher).

As for Kakko, I don't think he's peaked yet and I feel he'll be a quality NHLer for many years. But I also think he's a cautionary tale about intentionally creating controversy at the top of an NHL draft where there is none in order to get hits on the internet and social media -- he was, is, and never will be on Jack Hughes's plane of talent.

 

[NJDevs26]

'With all due respect to the 46 games Steve played in the league'

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I LOVE how much this is blowing up. What an idiot valiquette is.

 

[PWiz30]

lol Their insane boosting of Kakko had to be purely psychological. Not to say Kakko wasn't great his DY because he really was but I mean c'mon Jack was always the clear #1. They were subconsciously pumping up Kakko to the absurd degree they did while simultaneously tearing down Jack because they knew Jack was never a real option for them.

Probably not. The Rags had been desperate for a center for years. Plus, they couldn't possibly be as stupid as Valiquette, could they? Could they?

You're both probably right, but it's fun to imagine a timeline where the Rangers took Kakko 1 and the Devils got jack with the second pick.

 

[Nubmer6]

You're both probably right, but it's fun to imagine a timeline where the Rangers took Kakko 1 and the Devils got jack with the second pick.

I wonder if he might have spent a year in Michigan if he hadn't been a 1 overall.

 

[PWiz30]

I wonder if he might have spent a year in Michigan if he hadn't been a 1 overall.

He might've scored 100 pts in an NCAA season if he did. As rough as his rookie season was, I still don't think it was a mistake for him to go straight to the NHL.

 

[Richer's Ghost]

Thank you Barstool.

I just vomited a little in my mouth

 

[Devils731]

I wonder if he might have spent a year in Michigan if he hadn't been a 1 overall.

Jack is probably be the same player now whether he went NHL or college that first year but his contract would likely be way more expensive if he had gone to college for a year.

 

[Dylan9z9]

I took some heat -- even here -- for calling 2019 The Jack Hughes Draft and saying again and again there were several tiers between Hughes and Kakko. There were angered reactions when, after the Devils won the lottery, I refused to write about any possibilities for #1 overall aside from Hughes. I took more heat when I said that, although Hughes was as clear cut a #1 overall as imaginable, Kakko should not be considered a clear-cut #2 because I considered it pretty tight between #2 and #5 overall.

None of this was a slight on Kakko, whom I considered an excellent prospect. I thought he'd be a two-way, PPG top 6 F with size -- sort of what 2019 Minnesota 1st rounder Matt Boldy has become.

I think sometimes we get caught up in hype and forget to truly consider all possibilities. Which is to say, if you look back at 2018-19 film of Kakko and Boldy, they should have been considered about even back then. I literally have used my failure in thinking Kakko was flat-out better than Boldy as an educational tool for myself in ensuing drafts. The lesson is: watch the film without prejudice of who is ranked where; rather, just base the players on their skills, intangibles and NHL potential.

I still think, in the right situation, Kakko can be a nice two-way, 50-point, 2nd/3rd line winger. But he's also become a bit of a cautionary tale for certain hockey "experts". Steven Valiquette's ludicrous take on the 2019 draft indoctrinated the most gullible Rangers fans. I remember texting with a good Fair Lawn NJ buddy of mine who is a huge Rangers fan, and he was literally embarrassed that the fanbase was convinced Kakko would be better than Hughes.

People are too lazy to spend any time doing research for themselves. They watch two highlight clips after listening (and becoming biased) by an "expert" whose research was watching eight highlight clips. I suppose that's not just hockey drafts anymore, that's all news in general.

Despite being as convinced Hughes was superior to Kakko as I've ever been convinced of anything, I look back on the 2019 draft in general as learning tool. I really missed in a few places (I had Kakko #2, Turcotte #4, Boldy just out of the top 10, McMichael just outside of the top 20, Jamieson Rees in my top 20, Case McCarthy in the early 2nd). But I also nailed a few things -- Hughes, Seider, Caufield, Helleson, Dorofeyev, Broberg outside the top 20 when other people had him top 5 and I was the only person I recall ranking both Seider and Harley higher).

As for Kakko, I don't think he's peaked yet and I feel he'll be a quality NHLer for many years. But I also think he's a cautionary tale about intentionally creating controversy at the top of an NHL draft where there is none in order to get hits on the internet and social media -- he was, is, and never will be on Jack Hughes's plane of talent.

No way was Kakko ever in the conversation with Jack Hughes.
Kakko is a year or two away from becoming Onjdre Palat

 

[Bleedred]

That shit from Valiquette was the dumbest stuff I've heard in a really long time.

What was the score of the game at that time? 3-0? It wasn't like it was 5-1 in the last 10 minutes of regulation.

 

[Lou is God]

It just hit me that Parise felt the same way, I remember someone asked would ever consider signing with the Rangers and he said "no way".

 

[NJDevs26]

It just hit me that Parise felt the same way, I remember someone asked would ever consider signing with the Rangers and he said "no way".

Well he did have a connection with the Isles growing up for obvious reasons and us in his pro career, so yeah he never really considered the Rangers or even the Pens/Flyers

 

[Dylan9z9]

'With all due respect to the 46 games Steve played in the league'

You would think he was on a level with Lundquist the way he talks

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Vallequette even shocked Giannone. What a tool to say what he said.

 

[JrFischer54]

Devils marketing really missing the boat if they don’t have instagram hockey shirts made up plastered everywhere

 

[Emperoreddy]

 

[devilsblood]

I started using uBlock too recently, it's so good

on your phone?

This site on my phone is not good.

 

[devilsblood]

So those guys, especially Ruff, agree with Vali.

Kakko is arb eligible at season's end and is potentially a UFA in 2026. He's just not going to be there much longer, I don't think.

Because Kakko wants out, or Rag's will look to trade him(and maybe they do so because he wants out)?

 

[Dialamo]

View attachment 939403

which one of you did this?

Must be the same dude who did this:

I can't use an ad blocker as I'm usually on my work PC or phone, but $12 a year to become a sponsor and not have to deal with ads on this site is a sound investment for anyone that's frequently on HF.

100% this. Just started this year and I'm surprised at myself I didn't bother to do it earlier. I also help support the site for a reasonable price. A far better experience on mobile. PC was never an issue though if you know what I mean.