Jack didn't have a remarkable rookie year. Kakko and Dach both surpassed him in points. It seems like going from NTDP to NHL is a big jump, so should he have gone to the NCAA for a year?
Sorry about the misspelling in the title

Hopefully has the hunger and resolve, and stays healthy. Recent history there’s Patrick you could point at and I think philly should have sent him back to Brandon for a year, also joe Thornton I believe only had 1 goal in his rookie year, and ended up in sj and flourished. I’m always a believer in a later draft and keep confidence and success with the youngsters. Dach proved me wrong for 1, I thought for sure back to Saskatoon for a season. But we will see in the long run. For Hughes I would have given him a year of dominance in ncaa and world juniors. Kind of the same as I would have with Nugent Hopkins. But the jury is out, lots of career left

eh. I mean, the Devils had a lot of issues. just 'cause you're the first overall pick doesn't mean you're automatically Connor McDavid and can haul the team onto your back and carry them out of mediocrity. hockey is, as they say, a team sport, and individual players have less of an impact than in other sports.

if anything, Hughes would've just torn up the NCAA in his freshman year, and we'd have all gone, "why'd he spend a year in the NCAA when he could have gone straight to the NHL?"

Late, but I don’t think so.

Hindsight is 20/20, obviously seeing how much he struggled this year, it probably would’ve made sense. If I was a Devils fan (and even as a Hawks fan, I feel this with Dach), Id be fine with Hughes struggling a bit now so the learning/developmental curve is less steep in the immediate future. If he went to college for 19-20, came in in 20-21 and struggled like he did this year, you lose a year of NHL level development and you’re right in this spot anyways. This way, he works on the stuff he’s bad at before refining what he’s good at and becomes more well-rounded sooner.

Idk maybe my assessment is wrong, but that’s how I see it

Would have liked to not burn his ELC slide when he clearly wasn't ready.