Love it. Absolutely love it.

NJD had already gone all in on Hughes and Hischier a while ago. Especially on Hughes. And almost instantly as well. In the year they selected Hughes, they drafted four childhood friends/teammates of Jack’s (Vukojevic, Moynihan, Clarke, McCarthy, etc). They invited others to camp. And most recently just drafted his little brother (a worthwhile pick in his own right). They have not been shy about this being Jack’s team.

Shero had been building a system around speed and puck possession for years and Hughes’ arrival cemented that strategy into place.

So if we paid him $6m or $8m, it doesn’t really matter as the whole thing is built around him anyway. If Jack thrives, the team will be successful. If he fails, the team will likely be unsuccessful.

So the question shouldn’t be whether or not we should have paid him $4m or $6m or $8m. The more fitting question is: Should NJD have hitched their boat to Jack’s? If yes, than of course, pay him $8m x 8.

Massive overpayment. He hasn’t proven himself enough to be worth that big of a contract yet. It may work out in the end, but still.