It was not so much a hype as a sense of anticipation. A year ago, for the first time, the first two general teams in the NHL draft went to teams about six miles away, and we wouldn’t all be in for a treat watching the rivalry between the No. 1s unfold. Jack Hughes, and Rangers No. 2 Kaapo Kakko?
Well, obviously the whole future lies ahead of the two 19-year-olds, which is a pretty good thing considering his past NHL season coupled with the biggest combined statistical failure in more than two decades.
Hughes, who wasted as the center of the top six at 18, recorded 21 points (7-14) for the Devils while Kakko, who struggled to assimilate to the American game, posted 23 (10-23) on the other side of the Hudson.
You have to go all the way until 1997 to find a draft in which the top two general teams were both players in the position and combined with fewer points in the year immediately following the selection than those of Hughes and Kakko.
But you know what? If Hughes and Kakko keep track of that year’s top two overall picks, the Devils and Rangers will be on a ferry in downtown Hudson and dancing the night away.
Because in 1997, the first overall 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, which turned the center into a healthy scratch. more than 20 times.
And in 1997, the second overall team was Patrick Marleau, on his way to the Hall of Fame, after a more representative first year season in which he recorded 32 points (13-19) to add 39 combined points for athletes who, 23 seasons later, are still in the league.
And let me tell you, Hughes was dancing all night in the garden on Thursday, scoring a couple of goals and an assist in an open performance to co-star with goalkeeper MacKenzie Blackwood, who saved the 47, at 4 for the Devils. . 3 wins.
The youngster added musculature to his frame with diligent seasonal work that has allowed him to fight in these 50-50 zones, but Hughes never stopped moving his feet. He was dynamic and silver, with his toes all the time, while thriving with coach Lindy Ruff, who worked as an assistant the previous 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 competitions. “I think it’s always been high, you know, but we’re building and I’m building personally.
“Lindy wants us to play a fast 200-foot game and thinks I can play against all four lines. So for me, I’d better play when our line has the puck and is on offense, so that’s a part. of my game, hunting the record and making pickpockets. “
Hughes scored on a tap-in from the goal line when a shot looked to a shaky Alexandar Georgiev and landed on the rebound to give the Devils a 2-1 lead at 4:13 of the second, just 1 : 23 after the Rangers tied the score. Hughes got his second in a breakaway, advancing quickly to the left flank before a back was for five holes, after blocking a shot from Jacob Trouba to the point, with a 3-1 lead at 8:38. Then, after the Blueshirts had closed within 3-2, Hughes found Miles Wood on the right porch with a brilliant diagonal appearance of the 4-2 goal in the force play at 4 p.m.
“The record found me,” Hughes said, as if he were little more than an innocent spectator. “It was a good period for our line. We must continue with this. “
Meanwhile, Kakko did not record any points, but played a strong game. In fact, the Finn had a 21-6 lead at 11:22 five-on-five, as he and teammates Filip Chytil (22-8) and Phillip DiGiuseppe controlled the play below the marks of hash by turns at once. Kakko had a hard time on opening night, but has been comfortable with the drive and confident without it.
It was a bright spot tonight, when the Rangers scored a couple of power play goals from the big boys Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, but little of their best weapons to force. Ryan Strome, who has had time to start, was somehow on the ice just for a five-on-five attempt by the Rangers at 12:48, according to Naturalstattrick.com. It seems impossible.
It’s still early. At the start of the season, incredibly early in the career of Hughes and Kakko, who have shown that last year was an aberration and that the future was ahead of them.
The present has been pretty good for Hughes.