There wasn’t as much hype as a sense of anticipation. A year ago, for the first time, the first two general selections in the NHL draft went to teams based about six miles away, and we weren’t all going to enjoy the development of the rivalry between Devils No. 1, Jack Hughes, and no. 2 Rangers, Kaapo Kakko?
Well, obviously the future lies ahead of the two 19-year-olds, which is a pretty good thing, given that a season in the NHL’s past has added to the biggest statistical flop combined by one or two of them. more than two decades.
Hughes, who was destroyed at the age of 18, scored 21 points (7-14) for the Devils, while Kakko, who struggled to assimilate into the North American game, posted 23 (10-23) on the other side Hudson.
You have to go until 1997 to find a draft in which the first two general teams were both position players and combined for fewer points in the year immediately after the selection than Hughes and Kakko did.
But you know what? If Hughes and Kakko watch the first two general selections of that year, the Devils and Rangers will meet on a ferry 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 rookie season in Boston, under head coach Pat Burns, who made the center a healthy scratch. over 20 times.
And in 1997, the second general selection was Patrick Marleau, on his way to the Hall of Fame, after a more representative primary season in which he recorded 32 points (13-19) to compose 39 combined points for athletes. who, 23 seasons later, are still in the league.
And let me tell you, Hughes danced all night in the garden on Thursday, amassing a pair of goals and an assist in an eye-opening show to co-play with goalkeeper MacKenzie Blackwood, saved by 47, in The Devils’ 4- 3 victory.
The young man added muscle to his frame with off-season hard work, which allowed him to fight in those 50-50 areas, but Hughes never stopped moving his legs. He was dynamic and silver, on his toes, while flourishing under head coach Lindy Ruff, who has worked as an assistant for the past three years on the other side of the Hudson.
“My confidence level is obviously high,” said Hughes, who has six points (2-4) in three contests. “I think it’s always been great, you know, but we build and build personally.
“Lindy wants to play a fast, 200-foot game, and she thinks I can play against all four lines. So, for me, I will play even better when our line has the puck and is offended, so this is part of my game, hunting the puck and the boys with pockets ”.
Hughes scored on a touchdown from the goal line, when a shot threw Alexandar Georgiev shaky and landed in the box to give the Devils a 2-1 lead at 4:13 second, just 1:23 after what the Rangers had equalized. Hughes got second on a run, accelerating to the left, before going back through the five-hole, after blocking a Jacob Trouba shot on point, for a 3-1 lead at 8:38. Then, after the Blueshirts closed at 3-2, Hughes found Miles Wood on the right porch, looking bright diagonally for the 4-2 goal on the power play at 4 p.m.
“The puck was finding me,” Hughes said, as if he were a little more than an innocent spectator. “It was a good time for our line. We must continue this. ”
Meanwhile, Kakko did not score any points, but played a strong game. Indeed, the Finn had a 21-6 lead in 11:22 from five to five, while he and teammates Filip Chytil (22-8) and Phillip DiGiuseppe controlled the game under the hash mark for changes to a moment given. Kakko had a hard time on the opening night, but he looked comfortable with the puck and confident without him.
He was a bright spot in this one night when the Rangers got a few power play goals from the big boys Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, but little from their top weapons at equal strength. Ryan Strome, who had a longer period of time, was somehow on the ice for a single five-for-five Rangers shot in 12:48 on Naturalstattrick.com. It seems impossible.
It’s still early. At the beginning of the season, impossible early in the careers of Hughes and Kakko, who proved that last year was an aberration and that the future is ahead of them.
The present was pretty nice for Hughes.