Jack Hughes was meant to be a star.

Taken first overall by New Jersey in 2019, Hughes had already broken Clayton Keller’s all-time Points record in the United States Developmental Program, and nearly broke Auston Matthews’s record for Points in a single campaign.  Hughes was not just the best junior in the U.S.; he was the best in the world.

Hughes made the Devils immediately, scoring 21 and 31 Points in his first two years.  He was not an immediate star, but New Jersey was not concerned, as the talent was there.  After that, Hughes battled injury, but scored 56 Points in 49 Games, made the All-Star Game, and showed the Devils fans what was to come, which was a 99 Point year, where he was second in Lady Byng voting and was eighth for the Hart.  He also added a second All-Star Game to his ledger.  Two years ago, the superstar dropped to 74 Points, and had only 70 Points the year after, but in both seasons, he missed significant time.  

Hughes enters this season as a potential Hart Trophy winner and is the straw that stirs the drink on an improving New Jersey club. 

If you are a regular visitor at Notinhalloffame.com, you know that we created the Notinhalloffame NBA Cup, where in every regular season game, we award points (5-4-3-2-1) to the top five performers.  This is the fourth year that we have done this, and Denver’s Nikola Jokic winning the first two, and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers winning last year.

To keep everyone regularly in the loop this time, we have decided to give regular updates, starting at Thanksgiving.  We will update this every Monday.

Here is the current top ten:

1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets, 119 Cup Points, 30 Games, 3.97 Cup Points per Game, 26.4, PPG, 12.3 RPG, 9.2 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 31.6 PER, 6.3 WS.  Last Week, #1.

Remaining at the top is Nikola Jokic, who is now an NBA Champion and Finals MVP.  At present, the Joker is leading the NBA in Total Rebounds (368), Defensive Rebounds (236), True Shooting Percentage (.701), Win Shares (6.3), Offensive Win Shares (4.5) Box Plus/Minus (13.9) and VORP (4.1).  He is also second in Rebounds per Game (12.3), PER (31.6) and third in Assists per Game (9.5).  Jokic also was named the November Player of the Month, which is his seventh overall.

2. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers, 112 Cup Points, 25 Games, 4.15 Cup Points per Game, 35.0, PPG, 11.7 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.2 SPG, 2.0 BPG, 34.8 PER, 5.7 WS.  Last Week #2

Embiid is the reigning MVP, NIHOF Cup Winner, and two-time scoring champion, and he is currently leading the NBA in scoring again (35.1).  The 76er is also first in Usage Percentage (36.0), and PER (34.8), and is in the top ten in Rebounds and Blocks per Game.  Embiid has missed a few games, costing him Cup Points, and would be ahead of Jokic had he not.

3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks, 109 Cup Points:  29 Games, 3.76 Cup Points per Game, 30.8 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 29.9 PER, 4.6 WS.  Last Week, #2.

The two-time MVP has never had a better supporting cast than he does now, and he is responding by doing what he always does: dominate.  Antetokounmpo, however has slightly less metrics than previous years, but the arrival of Damian Lillard means he does not have to always carry the load.  He is fifth in Points per Game (29.9), sixth in Rebounds per Game (10.9), and is the league-leader in Field Goals (319).

4. Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, 108 Cup Points:  27 Games, 4.00 Cup Points per Game, 32.9 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 9.1 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 27.1 PER, 4.1 WS.  Last Week #4.

Doncic is on a four-year streak of First Team All-NBA stars, and he is on pace to add a fifth.  Hs is second on Points per Game (32.9), fourth in Assists (9.1), and is in the top ten in PER (27.1), Box Plus/Minus (6.7), VORP (2.7) and Win Shares (4.1).

5. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder, 106 Cup Points:  26 Games, 4.08 Cup Points Per Game, 30.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 6.3 APG, 2.8 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 30.8 PER, 5.5 WS.  Last Week #6.

Gilgeous-Alexander broke through to the upper-tier last season, and he is proving that this was no fluke.  He is leading the NBA in Steals per Game (2.8) and is third in PER (30.7), Win Shares (5.5) and VORP (2.8) and is fourth in Points per Game (30.8).  The Canadian is now an MVP contender, and could join Steve Nash in that exclusive club.

6. Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors, 101 Cup Points:  27 Games, 3.74 Cup Points per Game, 28.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 4.4 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 21.9 PER, 3.2 WS. Last Week #8

The Warriors are an aging team, but Father Time has not yet found Curry, who is the best beyond-the-arc shooter of all-time.  He is eighth in PPG (28.3) and is leading the league in 3-Point Field Goals (131) and Free Throw Percentage (.933), but the pieces around him are falling apart.

7 (TIE). Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics, 97 Cup Points:  27 Games, 3.59 Cup Points per Game, 26.9 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 4.1 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 20.8 PER, 3.3 WS.  Last Week #8.

Tatum begins the year the way he ended the last one: an MVP contender on a power team.  He has already a nabbed a Player of the Week Award, is tenth in PPG (26.9) and is poised to take the Celtics on his back to a title.

7 (TIE). Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns, 97 Cup Points:  24 Games, 4.04 Cup Points Per Game, 30.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.4 APG, 0.7 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 24.2 PER, 3.1 WS.  Last Week #8.

Durant remains a superstar and when he is healthy, he is among the best in the world.  KD is chasing another title and MVP with the Suns, and he is having one of his best starts in recent years.  At present, Durant is third in scoring (30.9) has not averaged over 30 Points per Game since the 2013/14 Season, but is over that right now.  Durant is also ninth in PER (24.2).  Sadly, the Suns are underperforming as a group, and arguably the Durant experiment is not generating the expected team success.

9. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, 95 Cup Points:  27 Games, 3.52 Cup Points per Game, 25.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 7.3 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.7 BPG, 25.3 PER, 3.5 WS.  #9 Last Week.

James set the all-time scoring record last year, and he continues to defy time by playing at an elite level. 

10. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers, 87 Cup Points:  28 Games, 3.11 Cup Points per Game, 24.4 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 3.1 APG, 0.9 SPG, 2.5 BPG, 25.4 PER, 4.4 WS.  (Not in the Top Ten Last Week)

Davis is the current rebounding leader per game (12.4), and is the healthiest he has been in years.   He is also fifth in Blocks per Game (2.5) and seventh in PER (25.4). 

Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns fell off the top ten.

Our next update will be up on next Monday.

Jesper Bratt was a steal for the New Jersey Devils, who only had to use a Sixth Round pick in 2016 to grab the Swedish Wing.  He signed with New Jersey a year later and was expected to join the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. However, he was so impressive in the Devils' training camp that he made the roster and, shockingly, became an NHL player as a teenager despite being drafted so low.

Bratt scored a respectable 35 Points as a rookie, but his progression stalled over the next three seasons, as his production remained at the same level.  He broke out in 2021/22 with a 73-Point campaign, which he duplicated the year after, albeit with a higher Goal tally (32).  Two years ago, he broke the 80-point mark for the first time, was New Jersey's leading scorer, and went to his first All-Star Game.  Last season, Bratt had his career-best in Points with 88.

Bratt is a future Point-per-Game player and All-Star, and could be a top ten all-time Devil.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022/23 revision of our top 50 Nashville Predators.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, Nashville did not make the playoffs but they still, had several new entry and multiple elevations.

As always, we present our top five, which saw a change:

1. Roman Josi

2. Shea Weber

3. Pekka Rinne

4. Filip Forsberg

5. David Legwand

You can find the entire list here.

Josi is still active, and the former Norris Trophy winner is putting more distance between himself and all others who played in Nashville.

Forsberg moved up one spot, overtaking Legwand for #4.

Defenseman, Matias Ekholm, who was traded to the Edmonton Oilers late last year did enough to move up one spot to claim the #9 spot.

Goalie, Jusse Saros, climbed two spots to #14.

Center, Ryan Johansen, who is now with the Colorado Avalanche, inched up one rank to #16.

Another Center, Matt Duchene, debuts on the list at #31.

A third Center, Colton Sissons, went from #35 to #33, and in keeping with Centers, Mikael Granlund, who is now a Pittsburgh Penguin made it to #45 from #48.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.