It's not as though Hughes, 18, struggled to begin his college career in the fall. But his coach pointed out a maturation in his game. It surely helped Hughes to be named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker award.
It's also interesting that after the World Junior over Christmas, American coach Nate Leaman made similar suggestions about Hughes needing to exercise discretion to go along with his unworldly talent.
Hughes has 17 goals and 22 assists in 40 games.
"His all-around game, but more just his approach and being responsible are areas where I've really seen him grow," said Pearson.
Edwards, who is 15 months older than Hughes, was in and out of the lineup to start the season. That changed shortly before Christmas and his role has taken off since. In particular, Edwards benefitted when Owen Power and Hughes left for the abbreviated World Junior and then Power went to the Olympics as part of Team Canada.
Edwards, whose brother, Brett, is a depth forward on Denver, was given more ice time and he's now a fixture on the Wolverines backend. He has three goals and eight assists in 35 games.
"He was in and out of the lineup early (and) just had to find his game, " explained Pearson.
"But when he came back from Christmas we saw a difference. He came back and started to play solid defensively."
Michigan is one of the most talented collegiate teams to take part in the modern NCAA tournament. Four of its players - Power (Buffalo), Matty Beniers (Seattle), Hughes and Kent Johnson (Columbus) - were taken with four of the top five picks of last year's draft. Beyond that talented quartet, Edwards is part of an additional nine NHL-drafted players in the Wolverines lineup.
Michigan has gone without a national title since 1998, when the Wolverines won on the same Boston ice (then called Fleet Center). Previously, future Devils Brendan Morrison and John Madden were members of the Wolverines national championship squad in 1996.
Pearson spoke of the long gap that he hopes changes Saturday night.
"There's no curse on our program," said Pearson, "it's hard to win (and) it's become (even more) very difficult."
Though it matters little now, Michigan has beaten both Minnesota teams this year, downing the Gophers to win the Big Ten championship last month. The Wolverines also took down Minnesota State in the season-opening Icebreaker tournament.
