HTML sitemap vs a real hub page — stop confusing them

HTML sitemap vs a real hub page — stop confusing them
Inherited a site with a 1,200-link HTML sitemap and zero hub pages. Orphans everywhere anyway.
— HTML sitemap: dumps every URL in one list. Passes link equity thin, reads like a phone book, nobody clicks it.
— Hub page: 20-40 curated links, intro copy, grouped by intent. Ranks itself, feeds the children real equity.
The play: I kill the giant HTML sitemap, build 5 hub pages by category, and orphans drop from 300 to 40 in one crawl.
Keep the HTML sitemap only if you've got a genuinely deep catalog and need a crawl-path safety net. Otherwise it's dead weight competing with your hubs.