NHL New Wave; Quinn Hughes

Selected seventh in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, Quinn Hughes left the United States National Team Development Program (NTDP) and headed to professional hockey.

Hughes played collegiately at the University of Michigan, where the Big Ten named him to the All-Freshman team and All-Big Ten Second Team.

After attending the Canucks summer development camp, Hughes decided to go back to Michigan for his sophomore season. He suffered a foot injury, which ended his collegiate career in March of 2019. Despite the injury, Vancouver signed Hughes to a three-year entry-level contract.

Hughes’ rookie season in the NHL was remarkable, continuously breaking records night after night, game after game. He has the most assists in a rookie season in franchise history, most power-play points in a season by a rookie, and the youngest player in franchise history with a multi-point postseason game, to name a few.

As a result of his record-breaking debut season, Hughes was selected as a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy alongside Cale Makar (Col. Avalanche) and Dominik Kubalik (Chicago Blackhawks). 

When asked who he looks up to, Hughes says he models his play after Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks and Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins. At 5’11, he literally looks up to Duncan and Kris!

The whole Hughes family is involved in hockey. His father, Jim Hughes, played at Providence College and was an assistant coach for the Boston Bruins as well as Director of Player Development for the Toronto Maple Leaves. His mother played women’s ice hockey, lacrosse, and soccer at the University of New Hampshire, and she was on the US National team when they won gold at the 1992 World Championships.

Quinn has two younger brothers, Jack and Luke. The New Jersey Devils, selected Jack first overall in 2019, while Luke plays on the USA Hockey NTDP U-17 team and will be eligible for the NHL draft in 2021. 

Hughes and the Canucks finished fourth in the pacific division in 2020. Vancouver reached the semifinals before the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated them in seven games. As of right now, Hughes and the Canucks will not open their 2020-21 season until atleast January 1, 2021.

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