Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Quinn Hughes Or Someone Else?

06/21/2018 at 7:16am EDT

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Why Red Wings would be interested: They need to upgrade their skill level on defense and Hughes is a tremendous skater and puck-mover.

NHL Central Scouting says: "A smooth-skating mobile defenseman who carries the puck very well and can transition from defense to offense with his feet or by making a pass. He reads the play very well and uses good positioning and the use of his angles to defend. Projects to be a top-four defenseman in today's game because of his skating and puck skills."

Red Line Report says: "Has both a good and bad side to his nature. Undersized D-man is an elite skater with a high-end offensive skill set. Explodes to speed in just a couple of powerful, effortless strides and has superb balance to allow instantaneous changes of direction. Skates the puck out of his own end and makes dangerous dashes up the ice, regularly leading the rush. Finds teammates through traffic with creative passes. On the downside, he also gets caught up ice, or out of position in own end, fairly frequently. Strong for his size and uses low center of gravity to roll off checks and maintain puck possession. Keeps his head up, advancing pucks with smart outlets. Aggressive offensive mindset -- always attacking and looking to energize the transition game. Active stick but relies too much on the poke-check and doesn't take the right angles to keep forwards to the outside. Has trouble matching up against bigger, stronger opponents, but has the hockey sense to learn."

Summary: Mock drafts are divided on Hughes. He's projected to go anywhere from No. 4 to No. 9 by many accounts. If he's available to the Red Wings, they must decide whether to take a bigger defenseman like Evan Bouchard or Noah Dobson (if either is available) or add another smaller defenseman to their system.

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