Luke Hughes' Draft Hopes Come True I DRAFT

When the Devils were awarded the fourth-overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft following the annual lottery, Luke Hughes had a wish.
"I was certainly hopeful that I'd get picked to the Devils," he admitted. "Watching my brothers go through this (draft process) and seeing what happened with Quinn, where we thought he was going to go and where he actually went, you never know until your name gets called.
"I never knew until my name was called."
Luke's name was called.
Fourth. By the Devils
.
"I'm super excited to be a part of the Devils franchise and play in New Jersey," he said. "They're a young team and I'm super excited to be a part of that and try to win with them in a couple years."

Hughes' dream is to play in the NHL. But being selected by the Devils made that dream even sweeter as he will have a chance to
play alongside his brother Jack
, who was selected by New Jersey first overall in the 2019 draft.
On Friday night, both of those dreams came to fruition when Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald read the name of the youngest of the Hughes triumvirate in front of a throng of Devils fans at
Prudential Center
.
"It's a dream come true to play in the NHL. It's also a dream come true to play with your brother," Luke told the media following his selection. "Both of those things are happening tonight. I'm so excited to be a Devil and play with Jack someday. I'm super excited."

Jack was apparently excited as well, leaping into his brother's arms and bouncing with excitement after the hearing Luke's name.
"I'm super excited to be a Devil and I think Jack is even more excited," Luke smirked. "That might be the happiest I've ever seen him. It's crazy. It's crazy."
Despite Jack being a cornerstone member of the Devils franchise, he didn't have any insider information. The organization did not tip its hand on whom it would choose, making the reaction all the more organic.
"I had no indication. I had no idea," Luke said. "As you can tell by my brother's reaction, we had no idea."
The Hughes family now has all three children being selected in the first round of the draft and within the top seven: Quinn (Vancouver, 7th overall, 2018), Jack (New Jersey, 1st, 2019), and now Luke (New Jersey, 4th, 2021). The selection of Luke by the Devils solidified the Hughes family in NHL history, becoming the first trio of American brothers to all be selected in the first round of the NHL Draft.

Luke, 18, has had a chance to observe his older brothers and learn what it takes to make it to the NHL and be successful.
"Watching Jack's first year one thing I really learned is it's a man's league. You really have to be super strong to play in the league," Luke confessed. "Watching them in the gym and on the ice in summers is huge for me because I know how hard you have to work and what you have to do to play in the NHL."
Luke already has a size advantage
over his brothers being the tallest at 6-foot-2 and 184 pounds. He hopes to add some size and strength and begin his freshman season at the University of Michigan next year at 188-190 pounds.
"You're always trying to get stronger, bigger, faster," said Luke, who is the youngest available prospect after making the cut off by six days. "I'm a late bloomer. I still have room to grow. There may even be a couple inches left in me."
The left-handed defenseman, who played the majority of last season on his off-side, will have that chance to grow at the college level next year with a few fellow draft class selectees in defenseman Owen Power (1st, Buffalo), center Matty Beniers (2nd, Seattle) and center Kent Johnson (5th, Columbus). Michigan became the first school to have four players selected in the top five picks of a draft.
"Four guys at the same school in the top five is absurd," Luke beamed while thinking of his team's potential next year. "Going in we're trying to win the national championship. I'm super excited for the season to start and try to win with those guys."

Luke, who compares his game to Miro Heiskanen and Shea Theodore due to his skating talents and ability play both left and right D, could play two seasons with the Wolverines. However, he isn't thinking that far ahead.
"I'll probably be there two years," he said. "One if my year really goes well and I really develop. That's year by year. It depends on me and how my season goes and how I develop as a player."
But that is the future. The present brings us to Team USA and his attempt to represent his country in the upcoming World Junior Championship.
"I'm trying to make a team here at World Junior," Hughes said. "I'm trying to be a key piece on the team."
In fact, Hughes' first practice with team USA was on this same day, Friday, as the draft. It was also the first time he participated in any type of full practice in 18 weeks after working to recover from a lacerated foot tendon.

"I had my first team practice in 18 weeks today. It is certainly good to be back playing and practicing with a full team," he said. "I've been skating for six, seven weeks now. I'm basically 100 percent. I'm playing on Sunday and the whole week at World Junior Camp."
Hughes suffered the injury in March. While recovering, Hughes, unbeknownst at the time, had a chance to visit his future home ice, Prudential Center, to watch his future team and brother Jack in the final stretch of their 2020-21 season. Luke was in the building for the Devils' May 4 contest against Boston, a 4-3 overtime victory for the Devils.
"I got to see the building for the first time and see him play live in New Jersey for the first time when I had my injury," he said. "It was super cool to watch him play.
"I try to watch every game. Whenever I'm not playing, I'm usually watching my brothers."
And soon, when he is playing, he'll be able to watch Jack up close as they share the same ice surface, wearing the same jersey and emblazoned with the same surname while leading the Devils into the future.