Quinn Hughes

[zuck698]

Here is an excerpt from our old friend Jeff Gordon. I think he wrote this entirely for Smelly's benefit!

As the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings have demonstrated during their eternal rebuilds, molding young players into a postseason-caliber team is difficult.

Chicago last reached the playoffs in the expanded 2020 pandemic bracket, earning an asterisk, while the Winged Wheel hasn’t rolled into the postseason since 2016. Both traditional Blues rivals proved that prospect promise is often broken.

The Blackhawks whiffed badly on three key first-round picks: Kirby Dach (3rd overall 2019), Lukas Reichel (17th overall 2020) and Kevin Korchinski (7th overall 2022).

They landed emerging superstar Connor Bedard with the first overall pick in 2023, but they have failed to build out a winner around him.

Center Frank Nazar (13th overall) and defenseman Sam Rinzel (25th overall) look like keepers from the 2022 draft. The same goes for speedy forward Oliver Moore (19th overall 2023).

Chicago collected three first-round picks in each of the last two drafts, with rangy defenseman Artyom Levshunov (2nd overall 2024) and polished center Anton Frontell (3rd overall 2025) looking like certain nucleus pieces.

But will any of these guys become stars? And in our lifetime, will the Blackhawks surround their younger players with quality veterans instead of useless retreads?

Writing for Daily Faceoff, Matt Larkin summed things up:

The Chicago Blackhawks eagerly anticipate the upcoming NHL Draft Lottery, after which they’ll be picking in the top five no matter what . . .’ is a sentence we could’ve written in 2026, 2025, 2024, or 2023 . . .

Since their last honest playoff year of 2016-17, the Hawks have picked in the first round of the draft 17 times, including four top-three selections. Yet here they are, fresh off a third consecutive season finishing with the league’s second-worst record, ready to add yet another top-end prospect to their bursting pool.

It’s fair to wonder what GM Kyle Davidson has done to warrant the multi-year extension the team announced for him earlier this month. He’s held the position since 2022 and hasn’t overseen any meaningful progress in the standings; he’s also cycled through four head coaches over that span in Derek King, Luke Richardson, Anders Sorensen and Jeff Blashill. Why is it that Davidson has earned years of additional runway in the job, let alone keeping the job at all?

The Red Wings’ failure has been even more egregious.

Moritz Seider (4th overall 2019) quickly emerged as one of the NHL’s elite all-round defensemen. But forwards Filip Zadina (picked 6th overall 2018) and Michael Rasmussen (9th overall 2017) flopped horribly.

More recently, the Red Wings hit on slick winger Lucas Raymond (4th overall 2020) and sturdy Simon Edvinsson (6th overall 2021), who excelled in the top defensive pairing with Seider this season.

Goaltenders Sebastian Cossa (15th overall, 2021) and Trey Augustine (41st overall, 2023) are two of the NHL’s better prospects at that position.

Defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellika (17th overall 2023) just enjoyed a solid rookie season, so the blue is finally coming together.

On the other hand, forward Marco Kasper (8th overall 2022) showed promise in 2024-25, then he fell into the bottom six this season. Forward Nate Danielson (9th overall 2023) got a look in the bottom six, then spent most of the year in the AHL while also battling injuries.

Also requiring more work is winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (15th overall, 2024). The Red Wings need their young forwards to score more because Patrick Kane can’t play forever.

How much longer will this rebuild continue?

The Blackhawks have plenty of runway left with Bedard as their No. 1 center. The Blues are trying to execute a quicker pivot around Robert Thomas, who remains in his athletic prime.

The Anaheim Ducks proved it’s possible to build a youthful contender. They just sent Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers packing from the playoffs.

Meanwhile the Red Wings are running out of time to win with cornerstone center Dylan Larkin, who turns 30 this summer.

Former GM Ken Holland ran this long-proud franchise into the ground. Steve Yzerman was supposed to revive it after returning home from the Tampa Bay Lightning, but fans are still awaiting the Yzerplan payoff.

[TAFKAP]

Waiting for our resident Chicago Superfan to tell us how wrong this is.

If Chicago had our scouting staff??? Boy howdy.

[steve li]

Quinn Hughes is an outlier also

Imagine how good he would be if he had been drafted in the "Top 5" instead of 7th.

Let me tell you what likely everyone else is thinking.

There is a difference between
A) An elite NHL player
B) Selecting TOP5 in the NHL Draft

B does not GUARANTEE A.
A can be acquired without B.
The chances of acquiring A are greatly increased by B.
A brings keen advantage in Stanley Cups. It is ALMOST a requirement for the Stanley Cup Winner per history.
A brings fun and thrill to every NHL game.

The St Louis Blues are ignoring all of these facts for the sake of the cash register. Some fans care. Some don't.

Some fans know the value of Stan Musial in their life in sports. Some fans think that a roomful of Maxvilles' and McCarvers' is just the same.

So go ahead and fascinate over Quinn Hughes, Sports Fans. You should--BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER EVER SEE THAT SORT OF TALENT IN A BLUES JERSEY.

I'm glad you brought up Stan Musial, Dal Maxvill, and Tim McCarver. I saw Musial play in person late in 1963, his last season. The next sason the Cardinals won their first pennant in 18 seasons. During the 1960's, my school years, the Cardinals won THREE pennants and TWO World Series with Maxvill and McCarver. I had TWO signature bats growing up, a Dal Maxvill model and a Tim McCarver model. Facts.

I hope you did better with the Maxvill bat then he did!

[dr0zombie]

The Chicago rebuild is in a really interesting space. Maybe one the NHL has not seen before. So many top picks without a clear plan. Maybe they get lucky and McKenna unlocks all that Bedard potential.

Back to the topic Macklin Celebrini is the one player I would take over Quinn Hughes any day. Hughes can control a game with the stakes are high. No doubt about that.

[DawgDad]

Quinn Hughes is an outlier also

Imagine how good he would be if he had been drafted in the "Top 5" instead of 7th.

Let me tell you what likely everyone else is thinking.

There is a difference between
A) An elite NHL player
B) Selecting TOP5 in the NHL Draft

B does not GUARANTEE A.
A can be acquired without B.
The chances of acquiring A are greatly increased by B.
A brings keen advantage in Stanley Cups. It is ALMOST a requirement for the Stanley Cup Winner per history.
A brings fun and thrill to every NHL game.

The St Louis Blues are ignoring all of these facts for the sake of the cash register. Some fans care. Some don't.

Some fans know the value of Stan Musial in their life in sports. Some fans think that a roomful of Maxvilles' and McCarvers' is just the same.

So go ahead and fascinate over Quinn Hughes, Sports Fans. You should--BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER EVER SEE THAT SORT OF TALENT IN A BLUES JERSEY.

I'm glad you brought up Stan Musial, Dal Maxvill, and Tim McCarver. I saw Musial play in person late in 1963, his last season. The next sason the Cardinals won their first pennant in 18 seasons. During the 1960's, my school years, the Cardinals won THREE pennants and TWO World Series with Maxvill and McCarver. I had TWO signature bats growing up, a Dal Maxvill model and a Tim McCarver model. Facts.

I hope you did better with the Maxvill bat then he did!

LOL! No, I loved to play baseball and later softball but I was a "Maxvill" style hitter! That was a Bat Day giveaway in 1965 or 66. Yes, they gave away REAL wood bats suitable for Khoury League, at the stadium.

[Old_Goat]

If we're ignoring contracts (one more year for him, two for McDavid, etc.) and pretending we're signing any player to a max deal he's probably second on the list behind only Celebrini. If you're asking which player would i want to add to a team in the short term he might top the list, top 3-5 for sure.

It would be nice to have him or Broberg on the ice 50 minutes a game, especially in the playoffs.

It continually stuns me that we had MacInnis and Pronger on our backend for multiple years and couldn't get past the second round with them. Just shows you that having superstars isn't the end all be all, even if they are 2 of the most dominant defensemen of their time.

Then after he leaves Pronger essentially takes 2 teams that had no business being the finals to the finals.

Well, there's goaltending for starters.

First let me be clear, I was 100% thrilled right from the start when we got Pronger. Had many conversations with my friends helping them to see why. There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to be great. Glad we had him. Was very sorry we traded him. So, now i'll respond...

And Pronger couldn't stay out of the penalty box against the Sharks. And Quenneville always struggled with too many men on the ice calls. I liked him as a Coach too, I just remember those untimely fails at critical times in a couple of playoffs. It happens...and it happened. But again, he is a fantastic Coach worthy of high accolades. It looks real easy from the upper deck.

[Old_Goat]

Quinn Hughes is an outlier also

Imagine how good he would be if he had been drafted in the "Top 5" instead of 7th.

Let me tell you what likely everyone else is thinking.

There is a difference between
A) An elite NHL player
B) Selecting TOP5 in the NHL Draft

B does not GUARANTEE A.
A can be acquired without B.
The chances of acquiring A are greatly increased by B.
A brings keen advantage in Stanley Cups. It is ALMOST a requirement for the Stanley Cup Winner per history.
A brings fun and thrill to every NHL game.

The St Louis Blues are ignoring all of these facts for the sake of the cash register. Some fans care. Some don't.

Some fans know the value of Stan Musial in their life in sports. Some fans think that a roomful of Maxvilles' and McCarvers' is just the same.

So go ahead and fascinate over Quinn Hughes, Sports Fans. You should--BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER EVER SEE THAT SORT OF TALENT IN A BLUES JERSEY.

Brett Hull, Chris Pronger, Al McInnis, Wayne Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk, Pierre Turgeon...I've left out a few, but I think I recall seeing these I just named in a Blues Jersey.

[a smell of green grass]

Quinn Hughes is an outlier also

Imagine how good he would be if he had been drafted in the "Top 5" instead of 7th.

Let me tell you what likely everyone else is thinking.

There is a difference between
A) An elite NHL player
B) Selecting TOP5 in the NHL Draft

B does not GUARANTEE A.
A can be acquired without B.
The chances of acquiring A are greatly increased by B.
A brings keen advantage in Stanley Cups. It is ALMOST a requirement for the Stanley Cup Winner per history.
A brings fun and thrill to every NHL game.

The St Louis Blues are ignoring all of these facts for the sake of the cash register. Some fans care. Some don't.

Some fans know the value of Stan Musial in their life in sports. Some fans think that a roomful of Maxvilles' and McCarvers' is just the same.

So go ahead and fascinate over Quinn Hughes, Sports Fans. You should--BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER EVER SEE THAT SORT OF TALENT IN A BLUES JERSEY.

Brett Hull, Chris Pronger, Al McInnis, Wayne Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk, Pierre Turgeon...I've left out a few, but I think I recall seeing these I just named in a Blues Jersey.

There have been plenty of Blues with HOF caliber IN THE PAST. I'm talking post-Armstrong and post the selection of Pietrangelo in 2008.

[blues2112]

Brett Hull, Chris Pronger, Al McInnis, Wayne Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk, Pierre Turgeon...I've left out a few, but I think I recall seeing these I just named in a Blues Jersey.

For a brief time, Blues had an all-HOF power play:

Gretzky
Hull
Hawerchuk (might Anderson too?)

Pronger
MacInnis

Fuhr

[Midnight Ryder]

Here is an excerpt from our old friend Jeff Gordon. I think he wrote this entirely for Smelly's benefit!

As the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings have demonstrated during their eternal rebuilds, molding young players into a postseason-caliber team is difficult.

Chicago last reached the playoffs in the expanded 2020 pandemic bracket, earning an asterisk, while the Winged Wheel hasn’t rolled into the postseason since 2016. Both traditional Blues rivals proved that prospect promise is often broken.

The Blackhawks whiffed badly on three key first-round picks: Kirby Dach (3rd overall 2019), Lukas Reichel (17th overall 2020) and Kevin Korchinski (7th overall 2022).

They landed emerging superstar Connor Bedard with the first overall pick in 2023, but they have failed to build out a winner around him.

Center Frank Nazar (13th overall) and defenseman Sam Rinzel (25th overall) look like keepers from the 2022 draft. The same goes for speedy forward Oliver Moore (19th overall 2023).

Chicago collected three first-round picks in each of the last two drafts, with rangy defenseman Artyom Levshunov (2nd overall 2024) and polished center Anton Frontell (3rd overall 2025) looking like certain nucleus pieces.

But will any of these guys become stars? And in our lifetime, will the Blackhawks surround their younger players with quality veterans instead of useless retreads?

Writing for Daily Faceoff, Matt Larkin summed things up:

The Chicago Blackhawks eagerly anticipate the upcoming NHL Draft Lottery, after which they’ll be picking in the top five no matter what . . .’ is a sentence we could’ve written in 2026, 2025, 2024, or 2023 . . .

Since their last honest playoff year of 2016-17, the Hawks have picked in the first round of the draft 17 times, including four top-three selections. Yet here they are, fresh off a third consecutive season finishing with the league’s second-worst record, ready to add yet another top-end prospect to their bursting pool.

It’s fair to wonder what GM Kyle Davidson has done to warrant the multi-year extension the team announced for him earlier this month. He’s held the position since 2022 and hasn’t overseen any meaningful progress in the standings; he’s also cycled through four head coaches over that span in Derek King, Luke Richardson, Anders Sorensen and Jeff Blashill. Why is it that Davidson has earned years of additional runway in the job, let alone keeping the job at all?

The Red Wings’ failure has been even more egregious.

Moritz Seider (4th overall 2019) quickly emerged as one of the NHL’s elite all-round defensemen. But forwards Filip Zadina (picked 6th overall 2018) and Michael Rasmussen (9th overall 2017) flopped horribly.

More recently, the Red Wings hit on slick winger Lucas Raymond (4th overall 2020) and sturdy Simon Edvinsson (6th overall 2021), who excelled in the top defensive pairing with Seider this season.

Goaltenders Sebastian Cossa (15th overall, 2021) and Trey Augustine (41st overall, 2023) are two of the NHL’s better prospects at that position.

Defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellika (17th overall 2023) just enjoyed a solid rookie season, so the blue is finally coming together.

On the other hand, forward Marco Kasper (8th overall 2022) showed promise in 2024-25, then he fell into the bottom six this season. Forward Nate Danielson (9th overall 2023) got a look in the bottom six, then spent most of the year in the AHL while also battling injuries.

Also requiring more work is winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (15th overall, 2024). The Red Wings need their young forwards to score more because Patrick Kane can’t play forever.

How much longer will this rebuild continue?

The Blackhawks have plenty of runway left with Bedard as their No. 1 center. The Blues are trying to execute a quicker pivot around Robert Thomas, who remains in his athletic prime.

The Anaheim Ducks proved it’s possible to build a youthful contender. They just sent Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers packing from the playoffs.

Meanwhile the Red Wings are running out of time to win with cornerstone center Dylan Larkin, who turns 30 this summer.

Former GM Ken Holland ran this long-proud franchise into the ground. Steve Yzerman was supposed to revive it after returning home from the Tampa Bay Lightning, but fans are still awaiting the Yzerplan payoff.

What if Gordon is smelly?

[PregnantNun]

A grating way to write. Why does Gordon make every sentence its own paragraph? Makes my eyes burn.

[MikoTython]

There was one he shot in, I swear he aimed to knock it off a D-man's skate. Which he did. When it doesn't matter, when it does, he can put the puck -exactly- to the spot he wants.

https://www.nhl.com/news/dallas-stars-m ... il-30-2026

[Old_Goat]

Quinn Hughes is an outlier also

Imagine how good he would be if he had been drafted in the "Top 5" instead of 7th.

Let me tell you what likely everyone else is thinking.

There is a difference between
A) An elite NHL player
B) Selecting TOP5 in the NHL Draft

B does not GUARANTEE A.
A can be acquired without B.
The chances of acquiring A are greatly increased by B.
A brings keen advantage in Stanley Cups. It is ALMOST a requirement for the Stanley Cup Winner per history.
A brings fun and thrill to every NHL game.

The St Louis Blues are ignoring all of these facts for the sake of the cash register. Some fans care. Some don't.

Some fans know the value of Stan Musial in their life in sports. Some fans think that a roomful of Maxvilles' and McCarvers' is just the same.

So go ahead and fascinate over Quinn Hughes, Sports Fans. You should--BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER EVER SEE THAT SORT OF TALENT IN A BLUES JERSEY.

Brett Hull, Chris Pronger, Al McInnis, Wayne Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk, Pierre Turgeon...I've left out a few, but I think I recall seeing these I just named in a Blues Jersey.

There have been plenty of Blues with HOF caliber IN THE PAST. I'm talking post-Armstrong and post the selection of Pietrangelo in 2008.

And I'm talking that you said, "BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER EVER SEE THAT SORT OF TALENT IN A BLUES JERSEY."
Well, I have seen it. So, your statement is [nonsense].

[wiscrev]

Quinn Hughes is an outlier also

Imagine how good he would be if he had been drafted in the "Top 5" instead of 7th.

Bingo. I'll take posters for $500, Alex.

[a smell of green grass]

Quinn Hughes is an outlier also

Imagine how good he would be if he had been drafted in the "Top 5" instead of 7th.

Let me tell you what likely everyone else is thinking.

There is a difference between
A) An elite NHL player
B) Selecting TOP5 in the NHL Draft

B does not GUARANTEE A.
A can be acquired without B.
The chances of acquiring A are greatly increased by B.
A brings keen advantage in Stanley Cups. It is ALMOST a requirement for the Stanley Cup Winner per history.
A brings fun and thrill to every NHL game.

The St Louis Blues are ignoring all of these facts for the sake of the cash register. Some fans care. Some don't.

Some fans know the value of Stan Musial in their life in sports. Some fans think that a roomful of Maxvilles' and McCarvers' is just the same.

So go ahead and fascinate over Quinn Hughes, Sports Fans. You should--BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER EVER SEE THAT SORT OF TALENT IN A BLUES JERSEY.

Brett Hull, Chris Pronger, Al McInnis, Wayne Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk, Pierre Turgeon...I've left out a few, but I think I recall seeing these I just named in a Blues Jersey.

There have been plenty of Blues with HOF caliber IN THE PAST. I'm talking post-Armstrong and post the selection of Pietrangelo in 2008.

And I'm talking that you said, "BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER EVER SEE THAT SORT OF TALENT IN A BLUES JERSEY."
Well, I have seen it. So, your statement is [nonsense].

Don't just take it from me.. Do you see ANYBODY in this forum step forward and tell me that I am wrong about the HOFers going forward? You know that they would love to do so, and yet they don't. What does that tell you?

We all know what the Blues approach is to build the roster, and there is VERY LITTLE CHANCE that that approach will bring HOFers to our rink. Everyone knows that. Oh sure, we may bring in a "rental Gretzky" when when team gets closer to contending for a CUP, but that's as good as it will ever get. The HOFers will be skating in the other jersey's near 100% of the time in St Louis.

That's not good enough for me, and I'm going to call it out.

[a smell of green grass]

Quinn Hughes is an outlier also

Imagine how good he would be if he had been drafted in the "Top 5" instead of 7th.

Let me tell you what likely everyone else is thinking.

There is a difference between
A) An elite NHL player
B) Selecting TOP5 in the NHL Draft

B does not GUARANTEE A.
A can be acquired without B.
The chances of acquiring A are greatly increased by B.
A brings keen advantage in Stanley Cups. It is ALMOST a requirement for the Stanley Cup Winner per history.
A brings fun and thrill to every NHL game.

The St Louis Blues are ignoring all of these facts for the sake of the cash register. Some fans care. Some don't.

Some fans know the value of Stan Musial in their life in sports. Some fans think that a roomful of Maxvilles' and McCarvers' is just the same.

So go ahead and fascinate over Quinn Hughes, Sports Fans. You should--BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER EVER SEE THAT SORT OF TALENT IN A BLUES JERSEY.

I'm glad you brought up Stan Musial, Dal Maxvill, and Tim McCarver. I saw Musial play in person late in 1963, his last season. The next sason the Cardinals won their first pennant in 18 seasons. During the 1960's, my school years, the Cardinals won THREE pennants and TWO World Series with Maxvill and McCarver. I had TWO signature bats growing up, a Dal Maxvill model and a Tim McCarver model. Facts.

That is when Gibson, Brock stepped to the plate. Remember them? I believe that they are HOFers.