"There are so many guys that have done it, Zack Werenski, my brother, there are so many guys. Cale Makar, obviously. I think I've watched my brother Quinn's path more than Makar who did the same thing but watching (Quinn) go to Michigan for those two years and how (Michigan head coach) Mel (Pearson) developed him, and you know getting all the extra lifts, really getting strong that year, getting better (…) that was a really good year for Quinn for developing and really prepares you for the NHL."
"They're going to have a great team," Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald said of the Michigan squad which has three Devils prospects on its roster. "Hopefully, they can go as far as to win a national championship. Winning championships is what we want in players."
The fourth overall selection in 2021 by New Jersey is in Ann Arbor, Michigan training with Team USA as the USA Hockey prepares for the upcoming World Juniors re-do tournament in August, and the 2023 edition again in December. Sandwiched in-between his Michigan Wolverines season, Hughes is gearing up for plenty of hockey in the next few months. He says he's put on eight to ten pounds of muscle, spending five days a week in the gym training with his brothers Jack and Quinn, joined also by Zack Werenski, Cole Caufield, and other NHL players of varying experience.
Because of the unique circumstances of a tournament in the middle of summer, Hughes will be part of a rare group of players who have already represented their nations in a World Championship, before completing a World Junior tournament. He appeared in 10 games in Finland at the Worlds, where he contributed one goal and three assists. The United States fell short of a medal, losing in the bronze medal game to Czechia, but it was an invaluable experience, if not a crash course, in leadership and playing at that 'next level' with his Team USA teammates, among whom mostly play at the NHL level. Of the three Hughes brothers, Luke was the lone representative and the youngest player on the roster.
"Watching those guys like (Seth) Jones, (Austin) Watson, they really brought the team together in a short time to make sure that we were really tight, make sure you're friends and stuff like that, ready to go as teammates.
"They taught me that as a leader, and having a leadership role, bringing the team together whether playing cards, or going out to lunch or whatever, just bringing the team together, you know, making sure they're comfortable with both (on and off ice) chemistry."
With 13 freshmen players set to play with the Wolverines in 2022-23, Hughes is quick to acknowledge the benefit of the World Championship experience, while also reflecting on his rookie year and how he was treated. While no one is on campus yet, Hughes is getting a head start, taking the lead from the senior core that welcomed him to the team last year.
"(I'm) just shooting guys text, how you doing? and you know what they're doing for the offseason and making sure they're getting ready. I think we got a great, great group of guys. Really good people. So, it's bringing those guys in, making sure they're comfortable and making sure they're part of the team."
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One of those players is Seamus Casey, drafted in the 2022 draft with New Jersey's second-round pick. Casey, also a defenseman, will join a Wolverines roster that already has Hughes and 2020 fourth-round selection Ethan Edwards on the blueline.
"I was talking to Seamus, trying to get him involved, especially, you know, a freshman on campus and stuff like that. So, we'll take care of those guys," Hughes said, remembering how the senior core took care of him his first year.
"They brought us together so quickly and you know, anything that they were doing, whether it's going to lunch or doing anything, they brought us along."
