"It's a little crazy," Hughes said, "You hear about it for a lot of years from friends, but once you're there it's a really busy week. You've got to be on your A-Game all week. It's a little crazy how you have to repeat the same stories 10 times, right? So, you've got to kind of refocus every new meeting, it's a new meeting."
Hughes is an astute young man, one who, before having ever suited up for an NHL team, understands just how valuable to the longevity of his NHL career will be through this combine process is.
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"I had 10 meetings this week, obviously the two really important ones," he added. "You never know who is going to trade for who, what picks are going to be traded and in a couple of years you never know who is going to be GM of what team. They're all important meetings."
The spotlight is slightly brighter on Hughes this week without Kakko at the combine. The Finnish star did not attend after a gold-medal World Championship victory with Finland, so it is left up to Hughes to navigate the Hughes versus Kakko questions.
"I think it's good competition," he said when asked about the comparison between the two players. "Every year that one and two are competing with each other. I know [Kakko] had a great year and I think we'll be linked to each other for a lot of years with the Rangers and Devils right there. I'm excited and I think it's been a good year for both of us."
So, with Hughes and Kakko expected to go a version of one-two, Hughes was asked what uniform he feels he'd look best in.
The red and black of the Devils, or the blue, red and white of the Rangers.
"I think I'd look good in either," Hughes joked, toeing the company line. "I think I've had a great year. Either way I'd be really happy."
But we all know, Hughes' dream is to go number one overall.
And we all know that puts him in New Jersey.