Hughes' confidence growing with Devils ahead of first All-Star Game
20-year-old forward will be youngest player to participate in event since 2011
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"I'm really happy to be going and representing the Devils," Hughes said. "It's different, I missed 17 games, you know? But I've been playing really well, so I'm glad I got that recognition. They brought me here to make All-Star Games and do things like that. So to be a part of that now is pretty fun."
The 20-year-old is having fun this season, emerging as a scoring force in his third NHL season. He said he is confident the best is yet to come.
"I'm shooting the puck, putting things toward the net," Hughes said. "At the same time, I'm only 20 years old. By the time I'm 25, I want to be a completely different player and much better but, for now, I like where my game is at and I just got to keep it going."
When Hughes plays in his first NHL All-Star Game on Feb. 5 in Las Vegas (3 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS), he will be the youngest participant since Jeff Skinner represented the Carolina Hurricanes as an 18-year-old in 2011. At 20 years, 267 days, Hughes will be the fourth player in Devils franchise history to appear before turning 21, joining Kirk Muller (twice), Scott Gomez and Joe Cirella.
One reason Hughes made the All-Star Game is that he is finding a comfort level in his game that wasn't necessarily as prevalent in his first two NHL seasons. The forward has scored 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 20 games, including 12 (four goals, eight assists) in his past seven games.
"I think what we're seeing out of Jack right now is what we're going to start seeing more consistently," Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said. "We saw glimpses of it the first couple of games, then he gets hurt, so it took time to adjust back into this level, and then it just clicked. His confidence is pretty high right now and it's fun to watch.
"As a manager, it takes me out of my seat watching him play, so I can't imagine what the fans are thinking."
Hughes scored three points (two goals, one assist) in the Devils' first two games this season before missing the next 17 (Oct. 21-Nov. 28) because of a dislocated shoulder. He needed some time to adjust after the injury, scoring five points (three goals, two assists) in his first 10 games upon his return to the lineup.
"He's come a long way," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "Once he started to hit his rhythm, we've seen what he can do. He's a difference-maker each time you put him on the ice. He's got a lot of confidence, he understands there's an obligation to play well in every zone, he's working hard on every aspect of his game.
"As a coach, that's all you can ask for."
Hughes is second among Devils forwards in average ice time (18:50). He also ranks second among all NHL players in takeaways per 60 minutes (4.46; minimum 10 games played), and New Jersey controls 51.5 percent of all shots attempted with Hughes on the ice at 5-on-5.
Hughes leads the Devils with 31 shots on goal since Dec. 29. He has 58 this season.
"I think we all know that ever since I was six years old, I was a playmaker more than a goal-scorer," Hughes said. "My shot is pretty good, too. I just got to get it on net. It's a pretty good threat. I'm always going to find the open guy, but when I get the mindset to shoot the puck, that's when other things are going to open up."
Selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Hughes was unlike any player to graduate from the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Michigan, and became the first player from the program to go directly from the draft to the NHL.
The decision to play in the NHL surprised few, even though older brother Quinn Hughes spent a second season playing for the University of Michigan after the defenseman was selected by the Vancouver Canucks with the No. 7 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.
"Every player's physical and game maturity develop at a different pace and depending on when they get their NHL opportunity," director of NHL Central Scouting Dan Marr said. "You only need to look at older brother Quinn's development path, the extra year at Michigan served to prepare him for the NHL. Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche) took a measured approach with two additional years at [the University of] Massachusetts Amherst.
"The NHL is the best League in the world, and no 18- or 19-year-old has ever taken a team to the Stanley Cup, so expectations with top picks need to be measured beyond all the draft hype. In Jack's draft year, our group's opinion was that you should never underestimate Jack Hughes, and the fact that he took a direct path to the NHL does not diminish his projection. He's certainly grown his game at the NHL level and the best is still projected to be ahead of him."
Hughes learned plenty as a rookie in 2019-20, when he scored 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 61 games.
"I would say the greatest experience Jack had was a lousy experience his first year because it just showed him where our League is at and showed him where he was at as an NHL player at a very young age," Fitzgerald said.
Luke Hughes, Jack's youngest brother, was chosen by the Devils with the No. 4 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old defenseman, a freshman at the University of Michigan, has seen a difference in his brother's play this season.
"He's more confident in his shot," Luke said. "I think he's kind of showing this year that he's a really good player, and I'm super proud. The points are coming, but he's always proud of his game. He's always been a really good player out there, always dominant."
