The Devils are lucky to have Jack Hughes, the next great American player.
The New Jersey Devils are a team loaded with American bred talent. They have always been pretty steady at having Stars and Stripes representation on the roster. The present-day edition of the team is no different. There is a lot of hope for Jack Hughes to be that next great American born hockey player in a long line of them. Players like Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios, and Patrick Kane all led the way throughout history, but a new wave is going to take over soon.
We’ve seen the development of a kid like Auston Matthews, but the hope is that Hughes can be just as impactful one day. He has all of the tools to be one of the next great NHL players, but he should be well recognized among his USA Hockey peers as well.
Hughes was born in Orlando, Florida. He was drafted out of the United States National Development Program. He was the first overall pick because of how good he was for them. Hughes struggled to put up monster points in his rookie campaign, but there are a lot of factors as to why that happened. He was statistically one of the best puck carriers in the National Hockey League, but luck, bad linemates, and improper decision making kept him from executing.
Once he has linemates that can capitalize on the chances he can create, the number of assists should climb. He also needs to be able to make better decisions with the puck in the offensive zone which should create even more chances. There also needs to be better execution on his part in terms of scoring goals. When all of those things come together, he will be just fine.
Hughes is a part of a big hockey family. His brother Quinn Hughes is a defenseman for the Vancouver Canucks and he is quite good. He is a legit contender for the Calder Trophy. There is also a third younger brother named Luke who is on his way to becoming an NHL player himself. It is one big hockey family that could go on to have all three brothers be impact players in the NHL. It could be so fun to seem them all be such a big part of USA hockey.