i don't see how...as an assessment of them as prospects, not a career projection, this isn't open and shut for lafreniere. the single most significant evaluation measure for me, especially for the high end draft eligible guys that participate..and i'd think most would say similar... is the world juniors. its the best of the best in the world for their age bracket, easily the biggest spotlight they'll be under to date, and also the only apples to apples comparison. middling performance doesn't indicate bust by any means, but its a pretty good indicator where they're at developmentally at the very least, and can reveal some red flags about overall ability to translate game to higher levels - not that i'd put jack in this group. hughes performance was just that...middling - 4 assists in 4. Not to say he didn't look good, able to control play and create at times, showed flashes of elite skill, but far from dominant while getting a big role on a loaded team. lafreniere on the other hand was the hands down best player on the best team and it wasn't close. he was physically dominant and certainly appeared to be a leader, if not the leader, of the team. offensively he was a machine. 10 pts in 5 games and it coulda been 20, he was in control of everything with the puck on his stick. the vision, puckhandling, playmaking, and shot were on display shift after shift. i don't see how its even in question he's the best prospect since mcdavid and the mix of that level of skill coupled with the aggression is rare...only current player that comes to mind is mackinnon - not a direct comparison in how they create, just in the context of having skill on that level while being that physical. thats really not because it looks like he'll be a ranger, no matter where he was going or what team hughes is on i don't know how you can question who's a better prospect. there's a million ways their careers can go and who knows what they look like in 10 years...but if the question is as a draft prospect who has the better resume and would be viewed as having the higher probability of becoming the more valuable player i'd be shocked if any team in the league wouldn't say laf in a heartbeat.
