"He's an incredibly talented player, and what I was impressed with most was when down 6-3 and on the power play, he asked me a question that tells me not only is he locked in, but that he's a student of the game," said Mark Dennehy, coach of the Devils' American Hockey League affiliate in Binghamton. "As skilled as he is, he's a competitor too, and that's probably why he is the player he is."
Hughes played center on the top line between Jesper Boqvist (No. 36 pick of 2017 NHL Draft) and Nathan Bastian (No. 41 pick of 2016 NHL Draft). Boqvist scored an even-strength goal 5:09 into the third period.
"I thought our line started to feel more comfortable in the second half of the game," Boqvist said. "Hughes was vocal too. In the locker room, he was telling us to move the puck, move the feet, and don't get stuck in the corners, stuff like that."
Hughes is expected to play one of the Devils' two remaining games at the four-day tournament. The Sabres host the round-robin event, which includes prospects from the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Chris Taylor, coach of the Sabres' AHL affiliate in Rochester, challenged his forwards by playing them against the Hughes line.
"I wanted to see different lines against him because you want to see if they can handle it," Taylor said. "I even changed up one line to put Dylan Cozens (No. 7 pick of the 2019 draft) out there to make sure that he's taking face-offs against him for that competition. I thought every line handled him pretty good. He's obviously a really good player, and I thought our defense did a great job with him too."