Quoting: Brian2016
If only Devils fans responded to this poll, it'd be 95% "Yes."
Many of the same people that voted "No" for Hughes, probably voted "Yes" for Pettersson, who received nearly 95% "Yes" votes. If that poll were taken again today, I doubt it'd be over 50%. Stats can be very deceptive.
I think if you asked Devils fans, they’d say, “you had me at eight years”
I’d also like to see how that poll would break out between people that have watched him play vs people who just look at points.
Quoting: Devil1122
Not sure when Devils fans bashed Suzuki's contract
Wasn’t me. I loved that deal for Habs.
Quoting: gary_bettman
*Cough Subban, Hamilton Hughes Cough*
Subban’s cap hit isn’t a factor. And the other two are deals for which Devils are most proud.
Quoting: CD282
He has virtually no chance of becoming an "elite 1C" in the vein of McDavid, Draisaitl, Crosby, MacKinnon, Barkov, Aho, Malkin, Matthews etc.
I just don't see any scenario where this contract could be a "steal". If he hits his ceiling it would be considered fair pay. He's never going to be listed in the top 8 or so centers in the league.
“No chance of becoming elite”
Devils have one of the most analytics-driven approaches in the league (If not, the most). Much of Hughes value (or perceived value) comes from his ability to possession the puck and control the play, which is not reflected through point totals yet. I am sure, by now, people have data that reflects this.
Analytics is only part of the puzzle. But saying he has, “zero chance of becoming an elite center” is really just an attack on the measurement tools teams use to value players.
In other words, if one buys what the data says, then agree his metrics are already “elite”. But if you think the quants are a bunch of snake-oil salesmen, just say that.