LD Luke Hughes (2021, 4th, NJD)

[justHypnos]

Some great defensemen who don't hit much: Pietrangelo, Heiskanen, Ekblad, Keith, Suter, Slavin, Ekholm, Pesce.

As long as you're big enough to not get overpowered, and you're able to clear the crease when needed, that's all that matters. Hitting is nice, but it takes yourself out of the play and that's not always a good thing when you're a defenseman.

I was a huge fan of Edvinsson on draft day and he was the guy I wanted at #4, but while Edvinsson shines in the physical aspect of the game and Hughes doesn't, Hughes shines in other aspects that Edvinsson doesn't.

 

[John Pedro]

I've watched a bit of him so far, not much by any means; He looks very dynamic and creative on the offensive end and not a liability on the the other end. He may never be as good as Quinn offensively, but he looks like he could become a 50pt dman that plays a lot in all situations. Plus, one of the best skaters in the draft.

 

[cjeagle]

Some great defensemen who don't hit much: Pietrangelo, Heiskanen, Ekblad, Keith, Suter, Slavin, Ekholm, Pesce.

As long as you're big enough to not get overpowered, and you're able to clear the crease when needed, that's all that matters. Hitting is nice, but it takes yourself out of the play and that's not always a good thing when you're a defenseman.

I was a huge fan of Edvinsson on draft day and he was the guy I wanted at #4, but while Edvinsson shines in the physical aspect of the game and Hughes doesn't, Hughes shines in other aspects that Edvinsson doesn't.

Hughes might have a higher ceiling offensively than Edvinsson but defensively and physically I think the latter has the advantage particularly this season. Edvinsson has the advantage of having former Detroit Redwings all around defenceman and current Redwings developmental coach Niklas Kronwall(whose reputation for hitting has earned his name, kronwalled an addition to urban dictionaries but who also excelled on both ends of the ice) mentoring him in extra training sessions and giving him feedback postgame over there which he credited partly for his breakthrough performance this season in the SHL as a complete defenceman.

It is also perfectly ok if Hughes becomes a complete defenceman excelling on both offence and defence without hitting that much. After all my favorite all time defenceman Niklas Lidstrom and other all time greats had a similar reputation throughout their career and it didn't stop them from being effective and winning Norris trophies and Stanley Cups.

 

[William H Bonney]

There's been a weird obsession on HF lately with DRW fans turning threads not about their prospects into threads about their prospects. Spare us, please.

 

[canuckking1]

Interesting to see they play on the same team and have the same stats yet Hughes +/- is a lot better than Powers.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

Secondary assist in transition on this Nolan Moyle goal.

 

[NJ DevLolz]

Is it fair to say he’s outplayed Power?

 

[Vasilevskiy]

There's been a weird obsession on HF lately with DRW fans turning threads not about their prospects into threads about their prospects. Spare us, please.

Yeah, it's annoying.

What an amazing team Michigan has this year

 

[WetWholphin]

Is it fair to say he’s outplayed Power?

why does that matter? people get upset when red wing fans come in and talk about E D W A R D S O N relative to hughes. Hughes is having a nice start, enjoy it.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

Is it fair to say he’s outplayed Power?

I probably wouldn't say that, but from my perspective it's been closer than I anticipated. And that's not a knock on Power, who has been good, I just didn't expect Hughes to hit the ground running after coming back from a serious injury and jumping up to a tougher league.

 

[Eggtimer]

I probably wouldn't say that, but from my perspective it's been closer than I anticipated. And that's not a knock on Power, who has been good, I just didn't expect Hughes to hit the ground running after coming back from a serious injury and jumping up to a tougher league.

Good to hear. Hopefully Hughes continues his linear development, he’s a year behind Power essentially, very good to see Hughes playing well

 

[Scorcho]

Actually I am a big fan of Luke Hughes. I think he will have a long successful NHL career and deserve his high draft pick ranking.

I just don't think he has the potential to be that rare franchise complete NHL defenceman that many in Sweden are saying Edvinsson can be.

The latter simply has all the tools in terms of size, skills, skating, physical style of play and hockey IQ at both ends of the ice and was even called a unicorn because of that during the draft.

i remember when this was the narrative out of sweden about Adam Larsson hahaha - oops

I don't think "mean" is a requirement for a complete defenseman. In fact, I'd say it's as irrelevant a trait as it's ever been in the NHL.

oh yeah Scott Niedermeyer was sooooo MEAAANN

 

[Classic Devil]

oh yeah Scott Niedermeyer was sooooo MEAAANN

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Just potted a nice one against Mich St.

 

[Auto Pilot]

 

[Martinez]

Delete

 

[Breakers]

Is it fair to say he’s outplayed Power?

No

 

[Breakers]

Scored a weird goal that wasn’t called on the ice

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

No

He is a year younger, he doesn't have to.

 

[Eggtimer]

4 goals and 6 assists in 9 games this year so far in Michigan .
As a Freshman, I’d say that’s pretty damn good.
What’s missing in replays from yesterday’s game is that he made a very nice defensive play/ takeaway and transitioned up the ice that lead to a Michigan goal. Good to see his defence is coming along .

Majority of his assists (4) are primary assists as well.

This is with him
1. Playing on the right side (left shot and used to play LHD)
2. Coming off a significant injury
3. COVID shortened season last year where he saw very limited action
4. Youngest player in his draft and is nearly a year younger than everyone else in their D+1 season

I know it’s early in the season but so far he has a better PPG than Quinn had in his d+ Michigan team is pretty stacked but still , I was expecting Luke to not even sniff Quinn’s production but so far so good !

Devils with a d core of Hamilton Hughes Smith Severson Shakir Okhotiuk Bahl might actually be pretty damn good in two years .

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

4 goals and 6 assists in 9 games this year so far in Michigan .
As a Freshman, I’d say that’s pretty damn good.
What’s missing in replays from yesterday’s game is that he made a very nice defensive play/ takeaway and transitioned up the ice that lead to a Michigan goal. Good to see his defence is coming along .

Majority of his assists (4) are primary assists as well.

This is with him
1. Playing on the right side (left shot and used to play LHD)
2. Coming off a significant injury
3. COVID shortened season last year where he saw very limited action
4. Youngest player in his draft and is nearly a year younger than everyone else in their D+1 season

I know it’s early in the season but so far he has a better PPG than Quinn had in his d+ Michigan team is pretty stacked but still , I was expecting Luke to not even sniff Quinn’s production but so far so good !

Devils with a d core of Hamilton Hughes Smith Severson Shakir Okhotiuk Bahl might actually be pretty damn good in two years .

He's having a ludicrously impressive D+1 season, I don't know how it's not generating more discussion.

 

[Nocashstyle]

He's having a ludicrously impressive D+1 season, I don't know how it's not generating more discussion.

I think some might believe his totals are inflated being on such a stacked team…and that might even be true to an extent. However, he just turned 18 not even two months ago, is close to at least a year younger than the rest of the top players on the team, and is also coming off of a season ending injury last year. Inflated totals or not, this is certainly an impressive start to his college career.

 

[Tetsuo]

4 goals and 6 assists in 9 games this year so far in Michigan .
As a Freshman, I’d say that’s pretty damn good.
What’s missing in replays from yesterday’s game is that he made a very nice defensive play/ takeaway and transitioned up the ice that lead to a Michigan goal. Good to see his defence is coming along .

Majority of his assists (4) are primary assists as well.

This is with him
1. Playing on the right side (left shot and used to play LHD)
2. Coming off a significant injury
3. COVID shortened season last year where he saw very limited action
4. Youngest player in his draft and is nearly a year younger than everyone else in their D+1 season

I know it’s early in the season but so far he has a better PPG than Quinn had in his d+ Michigan team is pretty stacked but still , I was expecting Luke to not even sniff Quinn’s production but so far so good !

Devils with a d core of Hamilton Hughes Smith Severson Shakir Okhotiuk Bahl might actually be pretty damn good in two years .

He's been really fun to watch. I was very high on him throughout the draft cycle, and was a bit bummed the Wings couldn't get him. But between, him, Edvinsson, Power and Clarke the highly drafted D-men from 2021 are all showing they were as good as advertised. Will be exciting to see how their careers all play out.

 

[Eggtimer]

He's been really fun to watch. I was very high on him throughout the draft cycle, and was a bit bummed the Wings couldn't get him. But between, him, Edvinsson, Power and Clarke the highly drafted D-men from 2021 are all showing they were as good as advertised. Will be exciting to see how their careers all play out.

Yes I feel all those D you mentioned plus a coupe others may all end up being 1st pairing guys .To me , Luke being as young as he is makes what he is doing all the more impressive . He was 6 days away from being in the 2022 draft … I’m surprised there hadn’t been more talk about how well he is doing . One could say he looks as good as Power so far and Power has a full season of experience on him .

 

[NJ DevLolz]

He's having a ludicrously impressive D+1 season, I don't know how it's not generating more discussion.

Because he doesn’t belong to the Leafs, Habs, Canucks, Rangers, or Flyers.