NHL Rising Stars: Luke Hughes

There have been a lot of talented hockey players in today’s world that come from highly talented hockey families like Seth and Caleb Jones who play for the Chicago Blackhawks, however, it’s usually the youngest that gets overlooked due to the fact that they are younger and therefore are rendered “less talented” by the older sibling (s). That’s the case for Luke Hughes, an 18-year old left-shot defenseman originally from Manchester, New Hampshire and raised in Toronto, Ontario while his father, Jim was the Director of Player Development for the Toronto Maple Leafs and therefore is a citizen of both the United States and Canada with most of his childhood being spent in Canada.

Hughes is a very tenacious two-way defenseman, who is capable of scoring goals whenever he gets a good opportunity to do so. He is extraordinarily good at handling the puck, however, the only noticeable flaws in his game are his skating, which is a little too slow for the extremely fast and tenacious playing style of the NCAA, and Luke’s nature of staying out of people’s way, which could become a problem as when he reaches top tier in the NCAA, he will be a target especially when the University of Michigan Wolverines are facing off against physically tough teams like the Quinnipiac University Bobcats or the Yale University Bulldogs. I’d say his NHL Comparison is Chase Priskie of the Florida Panthers, who I wrote about in a previous post, because their puck handling and skating are very similar. They are also very similar in the way that they are both solid two-way defensemen who are not very physical.

Luke was born into a hockey family. His parents Jim and Ellen were both hockey players back in the day for University of New Hampshire and Providence College respectively,and older brothers Quinn (22) and Jack (21) were already playing hockey by the time the youngest of the Hughes brothers was born. Now all 3 Hughes brothers have been drafted and/or are in the NHL, and our focus today will be on the youngest and the most underrated Hughes brother, Luke.

Luke’s U14 years with the Toronto Marlboros and the Little Caeser’s U14 Team based out of Detroit, Michigan didn’t go exactly as planned. Luke, like many other NHLers like Chase Priskie of the Florida Panthers, was an AP for both years, meaning he would only play if he was needed. This was more common for defensemen and goaltenders because there were less of both positions on each team (each team at the U14 level and up to the NHL, teams were only allowed to carry 23 forwards, 8 defensemen and 3 goaltenders). However, this was a minor setback in young Hughes’s career as in his 14-year-old season with the Little Caeser’s U15 Team in 2018-19, Hughes would have a career high of 83 points (22 goals, 61 assists) in 71 games. Pretty amazing for someone who has only been able to practice for the past couple of years, isn’t it?

The next year, Luke would join the USA Hockey Development Team as the youngest on the U17 team, not even being 15 years old! Luke found himself playing with guys who were 16 and 17, and still found himself being one of the star players on a team with mainly older kids. He would go on to play 48 games, ending the COVID-19-shortened season with 28 points (7 goals, 21 assists). Hughes also spent time with the USHL-affiliated US National Team Development Program, where he played in 28 games, recording 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) That summer, Hughes was invited to play for Team USA in the U17 World Hockey Championship. In 6 games at the tournament, he recorded 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists), and won the silver medal.

Hughes’ 16-year-old season was different from any other season he’d played in before. There were restrictions with COVID-19 (although near the end of the season, those restrictions were lifted in Michigan where Hughes was playing). Hughes played with the USA Development U18 team, again as a younger player playing with and against 17 and 18-year-olds. He would go on to accumulate 34 points (6 goals, 28 assists) in 38 games. He would also spend some time with the US National Team Development Program where he played in 18 games, recording 15 points (4 goals 11 assists).

Fast forward to present times, Luke completed his freshman year at University of Michigan with 39 points (17 goals, 22 assists) in 41 games. He also earned the honor of representing Team USA at the COVID-19-shortened World Junior Championship, which will resume in August of this year. Luke also was a finalist for many awards, such as the Hobey Baker trophy which was won by Minnesota State University goaltender Dryden McKay. Luke also brought home several awards such as NCAA Rookie of the Year, NCAA Championship, NCAA Second All-Star Team and Second All-American Team (note that Luke was the only American Canadian to be named to that award).

The youngest of the Hughes brothers has a bright future ahead of him, and that could potentially mean breaking all of his older brother, Quinn’s records and maybe even beating him for the Norris Trophy, which is handed out to the NHL’s top defenseman of the year. However, before Luke makes the jump to the NHL, I would think he would finish off most if not all of his 4 years at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan before jumping to the big leagues .However, given where Luke’s development is at, I could see him spending a year or two in the American Hockey League with the Devils’ affiliate, the Utica Comets. Until then, I can see Luke building a solid reputation for himself in the NCAA, and I could see him winning the Hobey Baker trophy next season with the Wolverines.