Jack Hughes

Center (Left-handed)

US Men’s National Team Development Program (USMNTDP)

Size: 5’10 (179 cm) and 168 lbs (76 kg)

Welcome back everybody! Glad to be with you again, although a bit later this time. I’ve spent the last few months getting a scouting certification and I’m proud to be back. I’ve got plenty to go over with you guys, but that’s for another time.

Look, we can play games if we want to, but you already know a lot about Jack Hughes, whether you know it or not. If you’ve been watching draft highlights at all this year, he’s been at the forefront. If you watched any last year, he was probably the one feeding the puck to your favorite US born players. There’s not much that’s a secret with this kid. He is, much like his brother Quinn, an absolutely phenomenal skater. His extreme agility and quickness in tight spaces allows him to maneuver through defenses like a knife through butter. I’d argue that no matter how good his hands are and no matter how intelligent he plays on the ice, he’s still going to impress you with his skating. Maybe a bit below Quinn, who I will openly admit is the best skater I’ve ever seen, the younger Jack still shows the skating talent that their mom passed down to them. Oh, you don’t know Ellen? Just the run of the mill hockey mom, taking her boys all over to compete. Well, except for that thing where she won the silver medal in the 1992 Women’s World Championships in Finland. The same one that’s a four category inductee of the University of New Hampshire Athletics Hall of Fame (ice hockey, soccer, lacrosse, and as a coach) and worked as a sideline reporter for the 1999 Women’s World Cup for ESPN. You know, Ellen.

Their dad, Jim, spent years working with the Toronto Marlies/Maple Leafs. That probably explains some of Jack’s extreme on-ice IQ. His decision making is astounding, especially for a kid his age. He could very easily run an NHL powerplay today if he had the opportunity. That ties in very well with the hands we talked about earlier and his high level playmaking ability. Don’t be concerned, he can still find ways to score that most can’t, should he decide that’s the best course of action. Sure, I think we’d all like to see him shoot more, but I have full faith in him pulling the trigger at the NHL level. His most dynamic asset, as far as translation to the NHL goes, might end up being his ability to enter the offensive zone. He’s a puck carrier through and through. That translates very well in his game when he’s given the puck in the neutral zone and gets that sliver of space to make a play. I would hazard a guess that a large portion of his points come off of his own zone entries rather than a teammates or even from starting in the offensive zone. That’s where he thrives and I think a lot of teams in the top 5 of the draft really need that. It’s a shame that Ottawa doesn’t have a chance at him because I think his skills line up very well with their needs, as does Detroit and the Los Angeles Kings, but at the end of the day it’s up to the lottery. Despite the rise of Kaapo Kakko this year, Jack shouldn’t feel much pressure to take away his number one spot.

The biggest knocks on him are also well documented at this point. He’s not big by any stretch of the imagination and that provides teams concern about his longevity or his ability to play his game against the physicality of the NHL. The other is that for all the hype he had this year, he didn’t break the record for points in a season that was expected of him. That, in of itself, is very interesting. Some how, this is a knock on him, but let’s really talk about it. While not scoring 117 points in 60 games as Auston Matthews did, Jack currently has the all time record for points (150 to Matthews 134), assists (100 to 67), and highest points per game of any player with more than 5 games played (1.97 ppg to Matthews 1.68 or Patrick Kane‘s 1.76). I have a feeling that despite his injury, which limited his World Juniors appearance to only 4 games, it will prove irrelevant. Jack is unequivocally the best player the US development program has produced and whichever team gets him will be very, very fortunate.

Likely draft position: He’s going number 1.

Best fits in the NHL: Detroit, Los Angeles, Ottawa (I’m sorry), New York Rangers, Anaheim, or really anyone lucky enough to get the first pick.

Player comparison(s): Patrick Kane or Auston Matthews (but smaller)