Why did Detroit pass on Q. Hughes?

[Eternal Leaf]

This is definitely a case of hindsight.

Zadina was even marked for going higher than he did and the Red Wings felt good about their pick. The guy was supposed to be a quality goal scorer off the wing to add to their forward core.

Obviously, it doesn't look so good now but that's the way drafts work.

 

[FMichael]

Just curious. I’m a Kings fan and thought it odd at the time. Never really put a lot of effort in diving into that decision but have come around to it again. Thought he was highly touted after his World Championship outing. Why did Detroit pass on the local kid?

I’m still wondering how the f*** this happened.

 

[TBF1972]

Edit: Looking back, my list even had Ty Smith ahead of him until Christmas.

i assume devils fans used your pre x-mas list when proposing ty smith + for quinn hughes

shame on you

 

[Go Wings]

I wanted Dobson who has turned out to be a pretty good player. He isn't as Hughes level but he is still a good defensemen.

 

[GMR]

Holland also drafted Rasmussen, Cholowski, and Svechnikov in the first round. Bad first round picks became the norm for him. One of the reasons Yzerman took over a mess.

 

[Giant Panda]

i assume devils fans used your pre x-mas list when proposing ty smith + for quinn hughes

shame on you

Ty Smith was over a point per game in his draft year and .5ppg his d-1 year, he was in legit talks as a top 5 prospect in that draft. He looked amazing offensively but was just surpassed by the all round games of a lot of the dmen that went before and Q Hughes exploded in his d-1 year to being ppg in the USHL while being undersized.

16 year old Ty Smith had way more hype and Quinn Hughes for good reason. Hughes just hit his stride at 17 and didn't look back. A lot of the internet scouting community fell in love with the young, whl prospect and couldn't ignore their first impressions.

Man, what a wild year for dmen that was.

 

[abo9]

Im guessing that Hughes wasnt a point per game defenseman in the NHL at the time

And probably for similar reasons that any 5 foot 10 defenseman and in general short players "fall" in drafts - you saw it with Caufield too as a forward. Uber talented players still warrant a shot, but GMs are cautious of small stature guys.

We could ask that about a lot of players in any draft. Tampa drafted Kucherov at the end of the 2nd and selected Namestnikov in the first...