NHL Draft profile: Luke Hughes

BlueJackets.com is running feature stories profiling the top nine players in our consensus poll for the upcoming NHL Draft, which is scheduled to begin Friday, July 23. Columbus will select fifth overall in the draft with the chance to add a high-level player -- likely from this group -- to the organization.
If you're an NHL prospect stuck at home while riding out a global pandemic for nearly a year, you might as well do it with a family member or two who have already made some noise at the game's highest level.
Such was the case for defenseman Luke Hughes, whose brothers Quinn and Jack have already become NHL regulars with Vancouver and New Jersey, respectively. The No. 5-rated player in our consensus poll of prospects available in the NHL draft was able to spend most of the coronavirus pandemic not just hanging out with but picking the brains of his older siblings.

"I think quarantine was unbelievable for me to just hang out with my brothers," Luke said. "Jack was at my house for like nine months. To spend time with him, we probably won't have that time together as a family ever again. That was awesome, to train with them and the summer and live with them and watch hockey together."
And just like Quinn (who has 94 points from the blue line over the past two seasons) and Jack (the No. 1 overall pick of the 2019 draft who had 31 points in last year's shortened campaign), Luke figures to not just be an NHL player down the road but a top-10 pick. The No. 4-rated North American skater by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau in its final rankings, Hughes is a tremendous skater who brings offensive ability to the board to go with excellent size on the blue line.
This past year while skating with the U.S. National Team Development program, the left-shot defenseman finished with a total of 10 goals and 49 points in 56 games. While he missed the World Under-18 Championships with an injury, he says he's good to go at 100 percent.
"I think describing my own game, I can play in all situations," he said. "I can play the power play, I can play the penalty kill, I can defend the cycle, defend the rush, defend the net front. I'm really poised with the puck in my transition game, and then I think a big part of my game is my exits and entries. Then in the offensive zone I feel like I'm pretty deceptive with the puck, and I try to make things happen.
"I think my three biggest strengths are my hockey sense, my skating and my compete level."
The obvious comparison for Hughes will be his older brother Quinn, who had little trouble getting up to NHL speed and has been a standout the past two years with the Canucks. Luke brings more size to the table and says he's better on the penalty kill, while scouts think Quinn might be the more dynamic offensive player.
No matter what, though, coming from a hockey family has its benefits.
"We talk a lot and talk about plays in little areas, what you can and what you can't do," Luke said. "I think that's huge for me and that's a really good tool that I use a lot. Another thing is I skate with them in the summer and train with them, so I think our core group is really good and to skate with them and battle against them every day, I think that's huge for me."
Next up for Hughes will be beginning his college career at the University of Michigan, where he'll join a bevy of highly rated draft picks for a Wolverines team that thinks it can do great things next year. Hughes also will follow in the footsteps of Quinn, who spent two seasons with the Maize and Blue, and there Luke is sure to draw more comparisons to his NHL brother.
"They have the compete, the confidence in their ability and their game," U-M head coach Mel Pearson said of the Hughes clan. "That's what you see in Luke. He's a competitive son of a gun. He can be a hard guy to play against in the defensive zone as well as giving you some offensive firepower. He's just a really good all-around player, and he's just scratching the surface."

What they're saying

Draft Prospects Hockey draft guide:
"Offensive minded, head up, fleet-footed, puck rushing rearguard. Has elite effortless skating ability, floating over the ice gracefully as he gathers speed with just a few quick crossovers. ... Drives the play from the back-end on offense. Has the skilled hands to go along with elusive feet and great change of pace. Creates his own space and time where he quickly recognizes openings and options. ... He has a great shot, gets it off quickly, uses it to find the back of the net with a hard, accurate shot from the point through traffic."
HockeyProspect.com Black Book:
"Luke Hughes is an offensive defenseman with a fantastic skating base, that attacks without fear and in waves, because he knows his skating gives him rare recovery or fallback options. He's not as dynamic and lacks the same level of hockey sense as his brother Quinn, and we don't think he has the same offensive ceiling as Quinn from the backend, but that doesn't mean Luke isn't impressive in his own right."
Chris Peters, Hockey Sense:
"Looking across the league at the defensemen who are coming in and making an impact, skating, vision, elite hockey sense, high-end passing abilities, elusiveness in the defensive zone and neutral zone and offensive drive are all key assets. Hughes is strong in each of those areas. While his defensive game still needs rounding out and just a bit more attention to detail, he can change the game with the puck on his stick. While there's not as much of a dynamic puck handling ability, he is the most dynamic skater in the draft among defensemen."