Quoting: Windjammer
Wow there is a lot of the expected Canucks homerism there. You missed a line there about Hughes being elite. It should have read, everyone in VANCOUVER considers him an elite talent, just like Pettersson. Unbiased fans and writers don't. They we're talking about him on NHL radio after he signed his contract and everyone called him a good young defenseman, but all of them mentioned how he hasn't lived up to his hype yet and needs a lot of improvement in his defensive game. Calling him a legit #1, is laughable. He even knows he isn't a legit #1, if he was he would have wanted more than 8 mil/year.
He's a good offense only defenseman that you want off the ice if you're in your own end.
If the Canucks have two elite talents, how come they're still one of the worst teams in hockey?
You and other media outlets would be right to pump the brakes on putting Hughes in the upper echelon alongside the likes of Cale Makar, Adam Fox, Zach Werenski etc. before the season started, the Canucks are already 13 games into the season and I'm telling you first hand that Hughes's defensive game has much improved since this season started. In fact, the team as a whole which hasn't been very good defensively the past couple of seasons has been better defensively than expected. The Canucks slow start has been quite ironic actually, they have been pretty solid defensively (despite a struggling PK) but they have struggled creating offense when everybody expected the opposite optics out of them. Anyways, I don't think I sound like a homer
It sounds like you are just going off of one radio conversation about Quinn Hughes. Truth is, whether he is a defensive liability or not, he produces offense exceptionally well, and offensive defenseman get paid. Not saying you have to agree, but the truth is the market for those types of defenseman is extremely vicious, and his offensive capabilities are what is going to keep him in the upper echelon of defensemen. I know you are already writing off Hughes as a Tyson Barrie, Shayne Gostisbehere, or Tony DeAngelo-esque player, and I'm telling you that even though Hughes doesn't kill penalties, he has a much higher hockey IQ than those three supposed comparables. I believe he is very much still on track to panning out to be something more
Btw, speaking of Cale Makar, I've heard some people say that his defensive warts in his game got exposed back in the second round against Vegas last season
Second, you are judging the Canucks who are simply off to a slow start this season, we don't know that the team is going to be below .500 all season long, hopefully for my sake they are not. I would much rather see a team get off to a slow start and pick up the pace as the season goes along, then finish strong rather than get off to a hot start and for the team to realize while on that high that they won't be able to keep up that trend the entire season and then start playing mind games with themselves causing their season to start to falter later on. Basically, I'm not judging any team based on their first dozen games or so, it's still just too early