The next one could be Hughes
Son of ex-Leafs scout is threatening Matthews’ youth scoring records Jack Hughes, an Orlando Fla., native who grew up in Toronto, is poised to break all records for points in the U.S. national development program.
Two years ago Auston Matthews became the seventh American-born player to be taken first overall in the NHL draft, going to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The question of who will be the next one may already have an answer: a skinny 16-year-old named Jack Hughes.
Hughes, a native of Orlando, Fla., who grew up in the Toronto area in an accomplished hockey family, will not be eligible for the NHL draft until 2019. But he has emerged as such a star for USA Hockey’s national team development program that scouts are pencilling the left-shooting centre in as the odds-on favorite for the top spot 14 months from now.
“I have not seen a better player available for the 2019 draft,” said Craig Button, a former general manager of the Calgary Flames and now an analyst on TSN and the NHL Network. “He’s got the skill, he’s got the drive. He’s lights out. If there’s a better player available for 2019, just tell me where he is, because I’ll take a buggy, a bicycle, a plane, if there’s someone out there better than Jack Hughes.” The NTDP has produced NHL stars including Matthews, Jack Eichel, Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel. Yet Hughes, who is nearing the end of his first of two years in the program, seems poised to destroy all of their scoring marks in the program. His 99 points so far this season are the fourth highest single-season total since the program began in 1996. At his current pace he could break Matthews’ record of 117, which he set in his second season when he was 17.
In the U.S. Hockey League, the junior circuit where the NTDP team plays, Hughes faced off against teams of 18- to 20-yearolds, yet averaged two points a game, the best mark in the league by far. He played only 27 of the 60 games and finished with 21 goals and 33 assists.
“The numbers he’s putting up this year and making it look easy — it only tells you that the ceiling is so high,” said Keith Tkachuk, the former NHL great who is a scout for the St. Louis Blues.
Hughes also is the youngest player on the United States team at the under-18 men’s world championship, which begins Thursday in Russia.
At 5-foot-10 and 157 pounds, Hughes is not much of a physical presence yet, but he is a dynamic skater who cuts and turns at speed, and sees plays and passing possibilities before anyone else. He’s often described as a cross between Clayton Keller of the Arizona Coyotes and Kane, the Chicago Blackhawks star who was the No. 1 draft pick in 2007.
Nick Fohr, an assistant coach at NTDP, recalled an exhibition game in December against the University of North Dakota, a top NCAA team with several players six and seven years older than Hughes.
“He went through like three guys and whipped a pass to one of his linemates for a scoring chance, and all the guys on the bench were looking at each other like, ‘How did he do that?’ ” Fohr said.
Hughes has the pedigree to become an elite hockey player. His father, Jim, played at Providence College, and his mother, Ellen, skated for the University of New Hampshire. His uncle Marty starred at Boston College.
His older brother, Quinn, also an NTDP alum, was a standout freshman at Michigan, which reached the Frozen Four this season. Known for his fluid skating and playmaking ability, Quinn, 18, is expected to be a first-round pick in the NHL draft in June.
A younger brother, Luke, could land at NTDP in a few years, too.
The family lived in Toronto while Jim Hughes was a scout for the Maple Leafs. Ellen taught the boys to skate. They spent hours twirling around on outdoor rinks in the winter and honed their shooting skills in their basement.
“We had a goal down there and the posts were so dented,” Jack Hughes said, laughing. “The crossbar was like flattened. There were holes all over the wall. It was pretty spectacular.”
Hughes is undecided about where he will play after he is done with the NTDP in 2019. He is considering college hockey and the junior ranks in Canada. “We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. He’s just a kid,” said Jim Hughes, who now works for Pat Brisson, the top agent whose clients include Matthews, now a Maple Leafs star, and other NHL players.
One other possibility is a year of pro hockey in Switzerland, where Matthews played, on Brisson’s advice, before being drafted.
For now, the immediate challenge is representing the United States at the under-18 world championship.
“Jack does things in games that are mesmerizing,” said John Wroblewski, coach of the NTDP’s under-17 squad. “He’s a savant.”
“If there’s a better player available for 2019, just tell me where he is.” CRAIG BUTTON FORMER NHL GM