Michigan sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes had been a celebrated NHL prospect for several years leading up to his selection at the 2018 NHL draft, held last June in Dallas.
Hughes was pegged as a top-10 choice by all the draft pundits and certainly knew his name would be called early in the annual selection process. His elite skating and puck-handling skills, as demonstrated in his freshman year at Michigan and before that for two years with the U.S. National Team Development Program (NTDP), put him squarely near the top of all draft boards.
TSN’s Craig Button, one of the acknowledged top media draft prognosticators, said this of Hughes, pre-draft: “He’s a great skater. He’s got a great sense of the game in every situation. He doesn’t panic. He understands what play is available to him and I think defensemen have to understand what play isn’t available to them.
“I think Quinn has a full grasp of what needs to happen and also what doesn’t need to happen. He doesn’t force things. I think his game translates to the NHL because he’s so smart.”
“I think he can play a lot of minutes,” Button continued. “I think he can play in every single situation. He’s hard to trap in his own zone. If he doesn’t see a clear opening, he sets himself up for an opening. By that, I mean he might have to let somebody move up with the puck before he’s going to take them off the puck.
“He doesn’t get himself in disadvantageous positions. When the puck is on his stick and you’re his coach, you feel like a good play is going to happen, whether it be just a good outlet pass or a long pass up the ice.”
Being selected in the NHL draft is a goal of nearly all young developing hockey players and Hughes was no exception. When he arrived in Dallas the day before the draft, he was prepared for the process and looking forward to it.
“It was good,” Hughes recalled as he spoke recently to The Wolverine in the lobby of Michigan’s hockey office. “It’s something you try to work for. It’s something you look forward to for three or four years, maybe even longer than that, since you’re 10 or 11 years old. It’s a very long year leading up to it. You’re thinking about the draft with everything you do. To finally have it be that day, you realize it’s here and you’re about to get drafted. It’s pretty cool.”
As a potential top selection, Hughes needed to do the obligatory media photo shoots and interviews for the draft’s television production.
“We went over to the draft area around 4:30 on Friday, the day before the draft,” said Hughes. “The NHL Network was there. It was an awesome time. It was really fun.”
When Saturday and the actual draft day rolled around, Hughes was all business.
“I really didn’t want to talk to anyone before the draft on Saturday,” he remembered. “Let’s just get in our seats and sit there. I felt like I was sitting there forever though.”
The Vancouver Canucks completed the dream for Hughes, selecting him seventh overall.
Hughes spent the next few weeks consulting with family and both the Michigan coaching staff and representatives of Canucks management before deciding to forego signing a professional contract for a year, opting to return to Michigan for his sophomore season.
The Hughes family has both a strong hockey background and an immense hockey future. Hockey just seems to be in their genes.
Quinn’s father, Jim, played and eventually coached hockey at Providence College. He has an NHL background as well, serving as an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins and as Director of Player Development for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Quinn’s mother, Ellen, played for the U.S. Women’s National Hockey team after a collegiate career playing soccer and hockey at the University of New Hampshire.
The next sibling in the Hughes clan after Quinn, Jack, is currently in his second season as a forward with the U.S. NTDP, following in Quinn’s footsteps, yet creating his own potentially great future. Currently, Jack is the odds-on favorite to be selected first overall in next June’s 2019 NHL Draft, which will be held in Vancouver.
Finally, the third Hughes prodigy, Luke, has committed to play at Michigan a couple of years down the line likely in Michigan’s incoming class of 2021. Luke projects to be a puck-control defenseman in the mold of his older brother, Quinn, and is already considered to be a likely high NHL draft choice when his turn comes around.
Quinn is certain that his draft experience in 2018 will help prepare his younger two brothers for their own experience when that time arrives.
“You know, the thing is, they lived it with me,” Quinn said of his brothers’ future draft days. “They know now exactly what happens. I don’t need to tell them anything earth-shattering that will help them. And they’re smart, too. They’re very detail-oriented. So, they know what’s going on and they have their own hopes and dreams, too. When they get to their day and get down the road on their career, they’ll be ready for the day.”
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