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It wasn’t so much a hype as it was a sense of anticipation. A year ago, for the very first time, the top two picks in the NHL Draft went to teams based about six miles apart, and we weren’t all going to enjoy it. see the rivalry develop between the Devils. No. 1, Jack Hughes, and No. 2 Rangers, Kaapo Kakko?
Well, the future is obviously all in front of the two 19-year-olds, which is a very good thing considering their past season in the NHL added to the biggest combined one-two statistical flop in more than two decades.
Hughes, poorly placed early in the top six centers at 18, scored 21 points (7-14) for the Devils while Kakko, who struggled to fit into the North American game, scored 23 ( 10-23) on the other side of the Hudson.
You have to go back to 1997 to find a draft in which the first two overall caps were both positional and combined for fewer points in the year following the selection than Hughes and Kakko.
But you know what? If Hughes and Kakko follow the top two overall picks that year, the Devils and Rangers will end up on a ferry in the middle of the Hudson and dance the night away.
Because in 1997, the first overall selection was Joe Thornton, en route to the Hall of Fame despite a 3-4 = 7 rookie season in Boston under the direction of head coach Pat Burns, who made the center a healthy scratch more than 20 times.
And in 1997, the second overall selection was Patrick Marleau, en route to the Hall of Fame after a more representative freshman season in which he recorded 32 points (13-19) for a total of 39 points. for athletes who, 23 seasons later, are still in the league.
And let me tell you, Hughes danced the night away at the Garden on Thursday, racking up a pair of goals and an assist in a revealing performance to co-star with 47-save goalie MacKenzie Blackwood in the Devils 4-. 3 victory.
The youngster added muscle to his body with hard work out of season that saw him fight in those 50-50 areas, but Hughes just never stopped moving his feet. He was dynamic and quicksilver, on his toes while thriving under head coach Lindy Ruff, who had worked as an assistant the previous three years across the Hudson.
“My confidence level is obviously high,” said Hughes, who has six points (2-4) in three games. “I think it’s always been high, you know, but we build and I build personally.
“Lindy wants me to play a fast, 200-foot game, and he believes I can play all four lines. So for me, the better I’m going to play is when our line has the puck and is on offense, so it’s part of my game, chasing the puck and the guys pulling.
Hughes scored on a tap-in from the goal line when a shot glanced at a shaking Alexandar Georgiev and landed in the area to give the Devils a 2-1 lead at 4:13 of the second, just 1:23 after the Rangers. equalized the score. Hughes got his second on a breakaway, accelerating down the left side before a backhand pullback through all five holes, after blocking a Jacob Trouba shot on point, for a 3-1 lead at 8:38. Then, after the Blueshirts moved closer to less than 3-2, Hughes found Miles Wood on the right porch with a brilliant diagonal look for the 4-2 power play goal at 4:00 p.m.
“The puck found me,” Hughes said, as if he was little more than an innocent bystander. “It was a good period for our line. We have to keep driving.
Kakko, meanwhile, didn’t register a point, but he played a strong game. Indeed, the Finn was on a 21-6 attempt advantage in 11:22 of five to five as he and his teammates Filip Chytil (22-8) and Phillip DiGiuseppe controlled the game under the hash marks for the shifts at that time. . Kakko had a tough time on opening night, but he looked comfortable with the puck and confident without it.
It was a bright spot in this one on a night the Rangers had a few power play goals from big boys Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, but few of their top-tier weapons evenly matched. Ryan Strome, who struggled to get started, was sort of on the ice for just one Rangers five-on-five shot attempt in 12:48, according to Naturalstattrick.com. It seems impossible.
It is still early. At the start of the season, incredibly early in the careers of Hughes and Kakko, who want to prove that last year was an aberration and the future is in front of them.
The gift has been damn good for Hughes.
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