Luke Hughes Eyes Collegiate Prize | PROSPECT WATCH

In the not-too-distant future Luke Hughes is expected carve out his own large presence on the Devils.
First, he has
big plans for his freshman season at the University of Michigan
.
"Right now, I'm just concentrating on winning as many games as possible, (contending for) a Big Ten championship and a national championship," said the 18-year-old, who was the

and the second defenseman taken.
"The campus is bumping right now."

Hughes is 6-foot-1 and about 185 pounds, with plenty of time to grow. He recently celebrated his birthday on Sept. 9. Had he been born a week later, he would have been ineligible for selection until 2022. A few factors - his age, position, the effects of COVID on the hockey world - meant it was unlikely that Hughes was going to play in the NHL as a just-turned 18-year-old. And the pandemic squelched plans for even a development and/or training camp appearance.
That is all perfectly fine with Hughes, who is about two months into being a college student-athlete.
"We are the No. 1-ranked team in the country (and) I'm just trying to get better every day," he said.
The sunny outlook right now aside, there were some bumps to get to this point. He was injured in the lead-up to the World U18 tournament and missed the event - the single biggest scouting opportunity for last season's class. The U.S. team struggled without him and a few other draft prospects who were also injured and bowed out in the quarterfinals on home ice in suburban Dallas.
There are no ill effects from a cut tendon in his foot that required surgery.
"I'm 100 percent and been (that way) since about June," he said.
Until he turns pro, the buzz around a player is never greater than when he is first drafted and then at the World Junior, where Hughes is expected to play over the holiday season. The buzz is especially intense when you have two older brothers blaze the trail as older siblings Jack (first overall in 2019) and Quinn (seventh in 2018) have done.
There is also plenty of other pros-in-waiting on the Wolverines, including last summer's first-overall pick, Owen Power (Buffalo), as well as Matty Beniers (second overall, Seattle) and Kent Johnson (fifth overall, Columbus). In addition, there are a handful more first-rounders on the Wolverines roster, as well as a few other drafted players, such as Devils 2020 pick, Ethan Edwards.
Through four games, Hughes has scored a goal - a beauty the same night of Jack Hughes' OT game-winner in the Devils' season-opener against Chicago - and added three assists.
Hughes says that there is a nice balance among his teammates.
"We also get a lot of leadership and depth from our older guys, upperclassmen," he said. "It's not all about the NHL (drafted) guys."
Aside from the obvious comparisons to Quinn because he's a defenseman and someday soon becoming a teammate of Jack, if you could imagine Luke's surname was not Hughes, what type of player does he project to be?
During the roughly 18 months when scouts started to evaluate the 2021 class, in Luke they saw a bigger version of Quinn, who was perhaps not as agile east-west but was likely faster north-south. In the leadup to the draft, Quinn pointed out that his youngest brother reminded him of Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen.
Another scout remarked that Luke was a "smaller, less polished Jay Bouwmeester" of the recently retired NHL veteran who went third overall 21 years earlier.
"A human breakout machine (and) a natural threat in transition," said Kyle Woodlief, chief scout of Red Line Report, "(he) can beat the forecheck with his feet and is skilled enough to lead the rush and put defenders on their heels."
Hughes also patrols the blue line equally well on the power play or at even strength and always gives himself a chance to recover quickly because of his great feet. Though he'll never be mistaken for Scott Stevens, Hughes' big frame and speed means that he should be more than competent defensively as a pro.
Hughes remains in semi-regular contact with the Devils hockey operations department, who are maintaining a watchful eye but from a distance.
"I get some feedback but they mostly just leave me to focus on what I'm doing here," he said.
As the big club roster evolves, and with his brother playing in now his third NHL season in New Jersey, Hughes has noticed like the rest of the hockey world that the Devils are fine tuning the team's youthful core, including the splashy off-season moves highlighted by the Dougie Hamilton signing.
"It has become Nico and Jack's team and now with Dougie Hamilton there, it's exciting to see how I can (fit in)," he said.
Photo Credit: University of Michigan
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