Devils Luke Hughes Looks to Do What Not Many Have

Former Michigan Wolverine signed his NHL entry-level contract with New Jersey following a Frozen Four loss.

Luke Hughes and the Michigan Wolverines were one of the favorites to win the NCAA National Championship in Tampa last weekend. But despite having the most loaded roster in the country, including the best defenseman (Hughes) and the Hobey Bakey winner (Adam Fantilli), they came up short.

After falling to Quinnipiac in the semifinals, Hughes turned pro, signing a three-year, $5.55 million contract with the Devils. The 19-year-old flew directly from Tampa to Boston to skate with NJ ahead of their Saturday night matchup with the Bruins and has been practicing with the team since.

So what does the future hold for Hughes? Well, let me start with this. He is going to be an elite NHL player for a long time.

That is important to note because it affects the strategy for GM Tom Fitzgerald and the Devils going forward. They are going to take their time.

Hughes is also in a unique position where his age forces him to utilize his entry-level contract whether or not he plays in an NHL game this season. Not that he wouldn’t skate in a game if this weren’t the case but this certainly makes the decision pretty easy to insert him into the lineup in one of the team’s final regular-season games. And that is exactly what they are going to do.

“Luke will play, yeah. Luke will play,” Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff said Monday.

Hughes will likely make his NHL debut on Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres. Funny enough, he could see a goaltender on the other end in Devon Levi, who is making noise in the NHL after wrapping up his NCAA career with Northeastern this season.

Not a lot of players have done what Hughes is about to do: jump straight from the NCAA into an NHL playoff race. Names like Cale Makar, Chris Kreider, and Spencer Knight come to mind.

Why is it so rare? Think about it.

College hockey is incredible. The atmosphere, the passion, and the school spirit. But of course, it is an entirely different animal than professional hockey. A lot of these kids are teenagers living on a college campus.

Hockey aside, were you mentally prepared to do anything professionally in your sophomore year of college? I sure wasn't.

On top of that, college players are not treated as closely to pros like the guys in the OHL or various leagues that are mostly intact to prep players for the NHL. So while Luke and the Michigan/Devils staff have surely been doing everything they can to prep him for the jump, it is a whole new world.

“I think college prepared me well,” Hughes said. “Intensity is ramped up here. Guys have been great, coaching has been great.”

“The biggest thing was managing my shift length and decisions more. I was playing so much, you kind of got burnt out if you rushed the puck every shift. The staff was great with me, building my game to a pro-style game. I think I built that part of my game a lot this year.”

“I hope I’m ready.”

How did the Devils try to assimilate Hughes to the pressure of the NHL? How about asking him to score into the empty net from behind his own icing line at practice? Each time he missed, the entire team skated sprints. He missed three before finally sinking it.

Overall, the coaching staff has been impressed with the kid so far.

"Good skater, we had some drills where you really get to watch him, he handled the pace of play,” Ruff said. “Probably, if you ask him, he's probably not used to that type of speed but for the most part, I thought he handled everything well."

Now, it is also a whole new era.

Young players come into the NHL and have immediate success at a rate that was unheard of a decade ago. The game is different and it favors the young, speedy players that grew up playing that way. Hughes is one of those guys. And his style should be a perfect match for not only the Devils but the current status of the NHL.

There is no telling what Hughes role will be heading into the postseason. There is a chance he doesn’t see the ice throughout the playoffs. There is also a chance he ends up playing big minutes if he can prove his value.

But for NJ, the pressure is off. They have found loads of success with their current roster, especially in their defensive game when compared to previous seasons. So if Hughes makes an impact, great. If not, he has a long career ahead of him and they will not rush his development for one playoff push.