Jack Hughes can realistically win Olympic MVP after two-goal performance

New Jersey Devils superstar Jack Hughes has quickly become Olympic superstar Jack Hughes. With his parents watching from the stands, him and his brother Quinn Hughes have been dominating the Olympics for the United States. Hughes started the Olympics on the fourth line, but he’s steadily earned more and more ice time. 

Jack Hughes had his best game of the tournament in the semifinals on Friday. He scored two goals en route to a 6-2 victory for the Americans over Simon Nemec and Slovakia. Now, the U.S. is going to the gold medal game for the first time since 2010. 

The United States have been trying to overturn that dreadful result, when then-Devils superstar Zach Parise tied the game with seconds left only for Sidney Crosby to score the Golden Goal to give Canada the gold medal. 

This year, the Americans are on par with Canada in terms of talent. They’ve been going shot for shot, and they’ve been waiting a year to play the rubber game from the 4 Nations Face-Off.

This felt inevitable. Even with both the U.S. and Canada facing scares in the knockout rounds, it had to end with the two best teams playing for a gold medal. Jack Hughes assured that with the help of his brother Quinn.

Now, Hughes is in the conversation for best player in the tournament. He’s second to Quinn Hughes in points for Americans in the tournament with six. While he’s seven points behind Connor McDavid for the Olympics lead (and currently Olympics record for Games with NHL players involved), he actually has more goals than McDavid has. 

Hughes has put himself in the conversation for tournament MVP. Despite not playing on the top six for USA, Hughes has more points than any forward. He is a possession machine that has been as good of a distributor as he has been a shooter. 

He would have to have a big gold medal game, but the voters are going to give MVP to a player on the winning team. Hughes has as much of a chance as anyone. His brother is actually in the driver’s seat for American players, but Jack Hughes has a better chance of making an impact in the final based on matchups alone. 

Things are looking good for Team USA, and Jack Hughes’s emergence is a big reason why. He might get rewarded with the top prize at the tourney for his efforts.