Since becoming the number one overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Jack Hughes has developed into one of the best centers in the NHL. Year in and year out, as long as he’s healthy, Hughes is one of the top offensive producers around.
Through 368 games played, Hughes has 141 goals and 210 assists for 351 points. He will be a career point-per-game player in no time. Hughes had a tough transition to the NHL as he needed more development, but he has taken that step into stardom.
Being an American-born player, Hughes will represent Team USA a lot in his career. He already has impressive runs with them on the World Junior and 4 Nations Face-Off stage. Next up is the Olympics.
Hughes still has a long way to go, however, before he can be considered the greatest American-born Devils player ever. There have been some good ones, but the man Hughes is tracking down for that mantle is former Devils captain Zach Parise.
On Wednesday, Parise was named to the USA Hockey Hall of Fame. After being drafted by New Jersey 17th overall in 2003, Parise went on to have an incredibly productive career that spanned 19 years.
In 1254 games, he had 434 goals, 455 assists, and 889 points. 194 of those goals, 216 of those assists, and 410 of those points came in 502 games with the Devils. His true prime came with the team that drafted him.
Zach Parise is still the best Devils player to represent USA
In addition to success in the NHL, Parise was a World Junior Champion and a two-time Olympian (including the honor of being Team USA’s captain in 2014).
Zach Parise’s success came because of his overall talent, ability to drive the net, and tenacity in all three zones. He had the skill of a superstar but the desire of a fourth liner trying to make their way.
It won’t take long for Hughes to take the crown from Parise as the all-time greatest American to play for the Devils, but it hasn’t happened yet. Hughes needs to have a big moment while wearing the red, white, and blue, and he needs to pass Parise in career points, which he will do with ease.
You can argue that Hughes still needs to pass Scott Gomez on the list as well. Gomez, who was inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame alongside Parise, won two Stanley Cups with the Devils and the Calder Trophy. He scored 123 goals and had 361 points in 606 Devils games as well.
Hughes is already a far better offensive player than Gomez was, but the impact that the latter made was indescribable. Again, it won’t be long before Hughes is at the top of this mountain over both Gomez and Parise.
Jack Hughes has a 99-point campaign under his belt, which is a Devils single-season record. Will he be able to stay healthy enough in 2025-26 to reach the 100-point plateau to break his own record? That would certainly get him that much closer to eclipsing Zach Parise as the greatest American-born Devils player of all time.