"He was a superstar tonight," stated USA head coach Jeff Blashill after the game. "I thought he made tons of plays, created against some of the very best players in the world and I thought he was a superstar. So, it says a lot about him. Obviously, he was disappointed sitting out and all he did was dig in and show everybody, including myself, what a high level player he is."
Hughes has been undeniably dominant against his peers this past season earning 2.24 points per game for the US National Team Development Program and shattering the program's scoring record of 190 previously set by USA teammate Clayton Keller in 2016 by scoring 228 points in 110 games
He's known for his elite speed, agility, vision, hockey IQ, passing, playmaking and scoring ability.
In short, he's pretty good at hockey.
At the U-18 world championship last month, Hughes set the all-time scoring record after he notched 20 points in seven games to give him 32 points in his U-18 career. One better than Alex Ovechkin's 31 set in 2003.
"I feel like I solidified my draft status at U-18s," Hughes said at the start of the men's tournament. "Coming here wasn't about the draft. This was just wanting to play more hockey and being around pros for three weeks. It's maybe the best team USA has brought got over here in a lot of years. So, to be a part of that wasn't something I was going to pass up. I want to learn from them whatever I can, work on things this summer and I think it will really help me next year."
Where he'll play next year is another question swirling around the 5-foot-10, 170 pound just-turned-18-year-old. The list of possible destinations has gotten exponentially shorter after the New Jersey Devils won the NHL Draft Lottery with the New York Rangers selecting right behind them.
Devils head coach John Hynes had the benefit of working with Hughes during the tournament as he was one of Team USA's assistant coaches.
"As a person, he's been really fun to be around. He's a good teammate. He's coachable. And, you can tell he loves the game," Hynes said. "When you look at him on the ice, he's very competitive. He wants the puck on his stick. He wants to be challenged and play in tough, tight situations, which is great to see, especially from a young kid. He's incredibly confident and he doesn't back down. In practice, he's trying to beat guys like Ryan Suter. So, you can see there's a drive and a desire to be an exceptionally good player."