April 13th, 2023 at 10:02 PM ^
Wow. This is spectacular. Way to go, Luke.
April 13th, 2023 at 10:43 PM ^
Much like his older brothers, he's just a special player. In the thread on him going pro, there were questions of when he'd play (now versus next season), where he slots in on a talented Devils team, etc... this one play highlights why even if he isn't in the starting lineup during the first round of the playoffs, he very likely will see time if the Devils have a deep run. He showed all this year and last that he has a combination of skating and hands that were NHL ready.
How many other D-men in the NHL right now could have danced through with a toe drag to snap shot, and had the speed and awareness to get to the rebound and finish on a wrap around? His brother Quinn, Cale Makar, Adam Fox.. the list starts to dwindle after those names.
It is a short list, but I would probably add Rasmus Dahlin to it. He scored nearly a point per game despite being slowed by injury late in the season.
I still have no idea why he is a defenseman. But then again, what do I know.
April 13th, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
Here you go 1st NHL goal
April 13th, 2023 at 10:14 PM ^
Luke Hughes was born to play 3 on 3 hockey.
Or even 1 on 3.
April 13th, 2023 at 10:19 PM ^
What a goal! He made them all look silly
April 13th, 2023 at 10:23 PM ^
April 13th, 2023 at 10:25 PM ^
As an aside, checked this guy's TL and he wrote this article: "Fantilli undecided on future." With quotes from the sources.
April 13th, 2023 at 11:01 PM ^
Kinda hard to be decided until he gets drafted.
April 14th, 2023 at 12:15 AM ^
Definitely, as he says in the article.
The key is that he's not checked out. Which matters with exams still to come, etc. This is a similar position to the one taken by Power, Beniers, and Johnson: They had thoughts on what they wanted to do, but they waited to hear from their NHL teams and publicly said as much.
The upshot is that if the NHL club that drafts Fantilli is comfortable/perhaps in favor of him staying a year in college, he's open to that.
Establishing Michigan as a place where pro prospects can play *and where NHL teams are comfortable with them continuing to develop* is a big deal in multiple ways. Power, Beniers, and Johnson are all performing well this year after an extra season, with Luke looking set to follow the same pattern. If this holds true, NHL prospects will continue to want to come to Michigan, and Michigan can often get two seasons out of them instead of one, a huge bonus.
Naurato also seems to have a very good attitude about this. It is... not the same attitude that Red had, and I think it's the right approach for the type of players that Michigan is trying to recruit.
April 14th, 2023 at 12:54 PM ^
With all of the board hand-wringing about NIL not being sufficient for hockey players to keep them in college for that second year ... when the drafting NHL club also agrees that year 2 of NCAA is the right next developmental year, I wonder if that club could also use the NIL opportunity to cost-effectively keep that option on the table (and benefit all parties).
That’s a good question.
I haven’t wrung my hands, I really don’t know what the NIL situation is. It doesn’t take much to make college competitive with any extras major junior can offer (major junior has lax rules but it’s just not a big-money business) and while it wouldn’t equal a two-way contract, it may be that the extra revenue just makes it a bit easier to enjoy the college life and that’s enough for the guys for a year. But, obviously, there’s not exactly a lot of endorsement money floating around Ann Arbor for hockey players.
The question you raise here is interesting and I’m curious about it as well. I suspect the biggest barrier would actually be NHL regulations: it would run afoul of the salary cap to funnel franchise money to an unsigned player that didn’t count against the cap, and you can’t have it count against the cap without a contract.
On the other hand, what’s to stop one or two sponsors of the team (let’s say a local car dealership or restaurant franchise) from paying the future franchise mainstay a five-figure retainer that he will fulfill in due time? Probably not much.
Interesting point here.
April 13th, 2023 at 10:31 PM ^
Way to go Luke! Didn't take long. First of many more to come.
April 13th, 2023 at 10:59 PM ^
Well done, Luke! Way to push the Wings down to 9th!
April 13th, 2023 at 11:08 PM ^
Don’t get cocky, kid. OT goals will get you modded once football season starts.
/ what?
April 13th, 2023 at 11:32 PM ^
Fantastic goal
Michigan's gonna have some great players in the NHL for a number of years with so many young guys just coming in. Gonna be pretty nice for recruiting when you can go up to a kid and talk about Hughes(es), Beniers, Fantilli, Power...
That was a fast transition. And I'm not talking about the play, which was great. My NHL knowledge is not vast but I have never heard of a guy playing in an NHL game after only a week or two removed from his last college game.
I presume there are a bunch of guys that have done this so there is precedent. I just find this amazing.
April 14th, 2023 at 11:26 PM ^
He's just following in the footsteps of Red Berenson, who did the same thing in 1962.
And, yes, although several players have accomplished this, it still is pretty impressive.
It’s quite apparent, the Force is strong with Luke.
Great to see him do this, and he's a special player. I wish he was still on our team.
Also, both defensemen played that abysmally. The left D didn't even flinch when Luke made his move to go between the two Ds; didn't even move his stick, didn't shift his weight to take the middle away. The D backs all the way to (almost) the dot before he reacts. Luke could've had a clean shot, right there.
The right D...literally watched the entire play. He might as well have been in a seat. He had no other responsibilities, to check another player. He literally stood on the circle and watched as Luke skated in on goal. Oh, he did wave his stick at the last second.
The left D gets his stick on the shot, but then gets stuck behind the post as Luke wraps around. Maybe Luke is just such a good skater that he makes average NHL D-men look like they're skating in molasses.
If those guys played baseball, they'd get an early shower like Javy Baez. Turrible.
Anyway, happy for Luke.
I don't know the defensemen, but I will say as a defensive player by heart, sometimes you get locked into "not falling for the fake, not falling for the fake" that you're slow to react to a straight-line attack. It's rare to see it happen to two players at the same time, but it happens, and I suppose they didn't expect a rookie to just yeet the puck in their faces.
its so bizarre to me that players can finish their hockey season in college and then just be added to a roster for a playoff run in the NHL?
April 14th, 2023 at 12:25 PM ^
Brock Faber played in the championship game last Saturday, returned from Tampa with the Gophers and immediately signed his professional contract Sunday morning, so he could jump on the Wild’s flight to Chicago Sunday afternoon. He played 22 minutes versus the Blackhawks on Monday ( and was a +1).
These elite college players are getting three year contracts for $1million/year plus performance bonuses doing what they love. They can always go back and finish their degrees.
April 14th, 2023 at 12:14 PM ^
All of the Hughes had points last night!
Great goal but to be fair having two forwards ( #8 Ovi = all offense and #17Strome) who are not defensive players on the end of a 3 v 3 shift, the Crapitals were ripe for the Hughes' pickings.
Also of note for Wings fans: if the Caps would have won, they would have fallen below the Wings draft order/lottery odds (ie the Devils win cost the Wings another 1% lottery probability). Similarly, the Panthers loss drops the Wings a draft spot (now 17th pick via NYI).
Can't catch a break on the draft...
Nice goal. But, really who is 74 on the opposition? He was completely asleep. Just horrible defending.
#74 is 33 year old John Carlson, who is coming back from an injury.
Looks like we found our defenseman for next year! BC's captain has announced his commitment to play for UM!!
https://twitter.com/MWarren1077?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
https://bceagles.com/sports/mens-ice-hockey/roster/marshall-warren/14906