Currently teammates at the IIHF World Championship, Patrick Kane is getting an up-close view on the scouting report on Jack Hughes.
Hughes, who's considered to be the front-runner for the top pick at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, is currently centring the American's third line with the first overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft riding shotgun on the right side.
Over the last number of years leading up to 2019 Draft, Hughes' style of play has often been compared to Kane's by scouting services for their stature, superb playmaking ability, and sublime puck skills.
Is the comparison fair? Patrick Kane thinks Hughes can be even better than him.
Speaking with NHL.com's Mike Morreale, Kane went into further detail on why he thinks Hughes is such a special talent.
"I feel like when smaller players come into the League and they have that offensive-type game, it seems to be easy to compare them to a guy like me," said Kane, who is 5-foot-10, 177 pounds, but was 5-9, 160 at the 2007 NHL Scouting Combine. "But I think he does a lot of things better than me, to be honest with you."
"He's always moving, always skating, and even if he's not near the puck or the action, he's still got his speed and he's coming into the zone or coming into the action with a lot of movement and speed."
Hughes just became the all-time points leaders at the U18 tournament, breaking Alex Ovechkin's previously held record of 31. Once drafted, Hughes will likely become the first ever US NTDP player to jump from the program directly into the NHL.
In 110 games in the program, Hughes registered 228 points for a ridiculous 2.07 career points-per-game.
In the IIHF tournament so far, Hughes has tallied just one assist, while Finnish counterpart Kaapo Kakko, who very well could end up supplanting Hughes as the top pick, has notched 7 points (6 goals, 1 assist) in 6 games played.
