Luke Hughes game breakdown

I dove deeper into his December 12th performance vs Air Force.

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Quinn Hughes is 21 and already one of the best defensemen in the NHL. Jack Hughes is 19 and emerging as a high quality 1C in the NHL. Those two alone would make the Hughes family one of hockey’s best.

But there is another great one coming. Luke Hughes, a defenseman for the USNTDP, is a projected top-5 pick who might well end up being selected 1st overall (I think a case could be made).

While the New Jersey Devils (thankfully) appear to be a little too good to be in the conversation for top pick, there’s always the possibility they could win the lottery and move into Hughes Territory.

Given that, and the connection to Jack, I thought it’d be fun to do a deep dive into Luke’s game.

In particular, I’ll be breaking down his December 12th performance vs Air Force. You can watch it in full – thanks to Devils in the Details – here.

note: Hughes is No. 6 in blue.

The Good

• One thing you quickly notice is Hughes is always up in the play. Below he makes a swing pass to his partner and and uses his electric skating ability to dart into the rush and create another option for the puck carrier. Nothing came of it on this occasion but Hughes jumping up turned what would’ve been a 2-on-2 into a 3-on-2 for his team.

• Luke is only 17 but he already possesses the most size, and range, of the Hughes brothers. He does a good job of using that to his advantage defensively. Below, you’ll see him close on the opposing attacker and effortlessly swipe the puck away. Hughes recovers the puck, eludes another oncoming forward, and breaks the puck out of the defensive zone while maintaining possession.

• Luke is a lot like Quinn at the opposing blueline. He is extremely slippery with the puck, which makes him almost impossible to contain; even in condensed spaces. Here, Hughes moves towards the middle of the ice, steps around Air Force’s challenging forward, and gets a decent shot towards the net. Most defenders would simply throw the puck deep. Hughes creates space for himself and it leads to two shots, including a dangerous rebound opportunity.

• Hughes is an absolute monster through the neutral zone. In this clip, he recovers the puck at his own blueline and fakes one way, only to go the other. That created a little separation from F1, allowing him to really build up speed. His pace and puck handling abilities make him nearly impossible to slow down.

• Get Hughes the puck and let him take care of the rest. It really is that simple when it comes to breaking out and transitioning from defense to offense. Here, Hughes dances around two Air Force players while carrying the puck the length of the ice. He slipped around stick checks, maintained full control of the puck, and kept it moving in the right direction before eventually dishing to an open teammate. Another controlled entry.

• Hughes does like to carry the puck and he is damn good at doing so. But he can really dish it as well. After impressively avoiding a couple forecheckers (again), Hughes puts a stretch pass on the tape of a teammate for an easy entry, which leads directly to a goal for his team.

• As you probably noticed in the 40 clips above, Hughes has a really good set of hands on him. He routinely makes moves at top speed without a single bobble. That’s why it was hardly a surprise a) he was used in the shootout and; b) he scored on such a clean and fluid play.

The Bad

• There really isn’t a lot to nitpick with Hughes and his skillset. He can do everything and is essentially the perfect defenseman for the modern NHL.

If anything, Hughes tries to do a bit too much at times. There were instances where he activated perhaps too far – I'm talking behind the opponents net – and Air Force had an odd-man rush the other way. Even if a forward is covering, you’re still setting up awkward situations if you get caught up.

There were a couple ugly turnovers, with the one below being the worst. I get that Hughes was under pressure but he didn’t really look, and notice his forward wasn’t on the wall, and kind of just lobbed a puck in that direction anyways for an easy change in possession.

It didn’t amount to anything but that is the kind of play he’ll want to get filtered out.

Data Dump

5v5 Corsi

5v5 Individual Numbers

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