2019 Draft Diary: Jack Hughes

Jack Hughes, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver on June 21-22, will write a monthly diary this season for NHL.com leading up to the draft. The 17-year-old forward, who is the brother of Vancouver Canucks defenseman prospect Quintin Hughes, the No. 7 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, will play for USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Under-18 team this season. In his first entry, Hughes discusses what it was like to play in the USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Wednesday.

Hello hockey fans!
I'm glad I'll be able to put together a monthly draft diary for you on NHL.com this season to give you an idea what's happening during the season with me and USA Hockey's National Team Development Program.
RELATED: [Complete NHL Draft coverage]
First stop of the season was the All-American Prospects Game at Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota on Wednesday. We arrived Tuesday, hung out at the Bauer store and ate at Chipotle for dinner. We had an early night because the game was the next day.
We woke up around 7 a.m. the following morning and went right to the morning skate, watched the Minnesota Wild skate before us, then my team, Team Jordan Leopold, and Team Jamie Langenbrunner got on. We were on for about 30 minutes, just to get a feel for the ice and the puck.
After the skate we went to a luncheon and Wild general manager Paul Fenton gave a nice talk, and Wild forward Luke Kunin spoke about his experiences with USA Hockey and how we shouldn't take them for granted.
Our team lost 6-4 but it was a good experience. It was a check-that-box kind of thing and I was happy to be a part of it. I wore jersey No. 21. That was the number my mom wore at the University of New Hampshire; she was excited about me finally wearing that number. She knew way before the game started that I'd have the number and she was pretty pumped about it.
I got credited for a goal that the opposing defenseman scored against his own goalie, but I'll take it. I also had an assist when Cole Caufield and I finished a 2-on-1. We were joking about it because we've seen that goal 10 times already; it's kind of automatic. Cole is an unbelievable player. It's fun to play with a guy like that because he has such a special scoring ability.
We flew back to the NTDP in Plymouth, Michigan, on Thursday and had a workout. We'll skate again Friday before our United States Hockey League game at Muskegon on Saturday night. We're looking forward to that.
I worked on a few things over the summer, my shot, my lower-body strength and face-offs by watching video clips. I worked with my brothers and my father every day. We were on the ice and focused on scoring and shooting to score. I also worked with Jarret Stoll and Dan Hinote, who was a face-off specialist when he played in the NHL, over the summer.

If you want to be a center at any level you need to win face-offs any way possible, so it was nice to get so much help.
Finally, I just want to say I'm so happy to be back playing for the NTDP this season. We like to talk about how we feel we train the hardest of any team in North America. We're working out three or four times a week, skating every day, and we play two or three games a week once the season gets going. We feel it's such a good place for our development and I feel like our skills are enhanced.
My roommate at the program is Alex Turcotte. He's a great billet brother; we're best buddies.
I've been asked about coming a point short of tying Auston Matthews' record for points in a season at the NTDP last year and if it's something I'm shooting for this season. Well, for sure setting records are in the back of my head, but I'm really just moving my game along. I think the points will come in bunches depending on how I play, so right now I'm kind of just dialed in on my game and focusing on that and the rest will take care of itself.
That's it for now. Until next month, enjoy the start of the NHL season.