The NHL Has A New Star And He's Only Getting Better
The beauty of the NHL (and pro sports in general) is that there is never a shortage of new talent. Every year a new star emerges and sometimes several blossom simultaneously. The 2021-22 season is no exception. A number of youngsters have exploded onto the scene but perhaps none have shown more brilliance than New Jersey Devils' F Jack Hughes.
The 1st draft pick in 2019, Hughes had a bumpy start to his career. After one of the worst inaugural seasons ever from a 1st overall pick (.34 points/game), critics flocked. "Is he able to play against men?" they asked. Well, it's safe to say he can. His sophomore season saw solid improvement, scoring 11g-20a-31p in 56GP (.55 points/game). But more significant than his point totals are what he does when he does not have the puck. It is here that Jack Hughes excels. In the 2020-21 season, Hughes led the NHL in Steals. As a 19-year old.
Let me repeat that--at the age of 19, Jack Hughes led the National Hockey League in Steals. That's crazy.
Fast forward to this season, and Hughes' game has taken off like a falcon in the wind. His U20 NHL stats for the current campaign are off the charts. See figures below:
Now that Jack Hughes' status among "star-level" players is assured, lets see the analytical view of the player. Eye-test is the penultimate method of assessing talent, but using data-driven analytics as a tool in generating context of a player's profile can be valuable. And JFresh Hockey (@JFreshHockey on Twitter) has one of the best models for it; his work aims to generate easily digestible analytic profiles. Lets see how Jack Hughes' card looks...
Oh boy, at 20 years old...that seems pretty good.
With a long (& I'm guessing pretty successful) career ahead of him, I think it's safe to say that no one is safe from Jack Hughes.
| POLL | ||
MARS 28 | 153 ANSWERS The NHL Has A New Star And He's Only Getting Better Is this season a fluke? Or is Jack Hughes legit? | ||
| Fluke | 26 | 17 % |
| Legitness | 127 | 83 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brandon Hagel | - | 5 | 5 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Nico Hischier | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Macklin Celebrini | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jakob Chychrun | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Will Cuylle | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Lars Eller | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alex Iafallo | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Ivan | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Drake Batherson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Simon Edvinsson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Morgan Frost | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Miro Heiskanen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 22 | 18 | 4 | - | 36 | |
Devils | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 21 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 31 | |
Wild | 21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 30 | |
Golden Knights | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 30 | |
Capitals | 21 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 29 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 20 | 13 | 7 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||