It was not so much an exaggeration as a sense of anticipation. A year ago, for the first time in history, would the first two general selections in the NHL draft go to teams based approximately six miles from each other, and would we all be happy to watch the Devils’ rivalry? No. 1, Jack Hughes, and the Rangers’ No. 2, Kaapo Kakko?
Well, the future is obviously ahead of the two 19 year olds, which is a very good thing, considering that their only season in the NHL added up to the biggest combined statistical flop in over two decades.
Hughes, cast early as one of the six best pivots at 18, scored 21 points (7-14) for the Devils, while Kakko, who struggled to assimilate into the North American game, scored 23 (10-23) on the other side. Hudson.
You have to go back until 1997 to find a draft in which the first two general selections were both position players and combined for fewer points in the year immediately after the selection than Hughes and Kakko did.
But do you know what? If Hughes and Kakko track the first two general selections of that year, the Devils and Rangers will find themselves on a raft in the middle of the Hudson and dance the night away.
Because in 1997, the first general selection was Joe Thornton, on his way to the Hall of Fame, despite a 3-4 = 7 debut season in Boston under coach Pat Burns, who made the pivot a healthy scratch more than 20 times.
And in 1997, the second general selection was Patrick Marleau, on his way to the Hall of Fame after a more representative freshman season in which he scored 32 points (13-19) to add 39 points to the athletes who, 23 seasons later, are still in the league.
And let me tell you, Hughes was dancing all night at the Garden on Thursday, scoring two goals and an assist in a revealing performance to co-star with goalkeeper MacKenzie Blackwood for 47 saves in a 4-3 win.
The young man added muscle to his body with diligent off-season work that allowed him to fight in the 50-50 areas, but Hughes never stopped moving his feet. He was dynamic and mercury, tiptoeing all the time, while thriving under coach Lindy Ruff, who worked as an assistant for the previous three years across the Hudson.
“My level of confidence is obviously high,” said Hughes, who has six points (2-4) in three games. “I think it was always high, you know, but we are building and I am building it personally.
“Lindy wants me to play a quick game, 200 feet, and he believes I can play against all four lines. So, for me, the best I’m going to play is when our line has the puck and is on the attack, so that’s part of my game, hunting the puck and pickpockets. “
Hughes scored in a touch on the goal line when a kick hit the trembling Alexandar Georgiev and hit the crease to give the Devils a 2-1 lead at 4:13 of the second, just 1:23 after Rangers tied the score. Hughes got his second in a breakaway, accelerating on the left side before a backhand doubled through hole five, after blocking a shot from Jacob Trouba on point, for a 3-1 lead at 8:38. Then, after the Blueshirts closed in 3-2, Hughes found Miles Wood on the right balcony with a brilliant diagonal for the 4-2 power play goal at 16:00.
“The record was finding me,” said Hughes, as if he were little more than an innocent bystander. “It was a good period for our line. We need to keep this going. “
Kakko, on the other hand, did not score, but played a strong game. In fact, the Finn had an advantage of 21-6 attempts at 11:22 out of five against five, while he and his teammates Filip Chytil (22-8) and Phillip DiGiuseppe controlled the play under the hash marks for turns of each time . Kakko had a tough fight on his debut night, but he looked comfortable with the puck and confident without it.
He was a bright spot on a night when the Rangers got some power-play goals from the big boys Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, but little of their best goals. Ryan Strome, who had a hard time moving, was somehow on the ice for just a five-on-five attempt by Rangers at 12:48, by Naturalstattrick.com. This seems impossible.
It’s still early. At the beginning of the season, impossibly at the beginning of the careers of Hughes and Kakko, who want to prove that last year was a freak and that the future is ahead of them.
The gift has been very good for Hughes.