Devils ink highly rated defense prospect Hughes

Ryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.

Highly rated prospect Luke Hughes, the No. 4 pick of the 2021 NHL draft, signed his entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

The decision to sign the 19-year-old defenseman was widely expected after Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said after the trade deadline that Hughes would join the team once his season ended at Michigan. Hughes, a sophomore, helped Michigan reach a second consecutive Frozen Four only to fall to Quinnipiac in the national semifinal on Thursday. Hughes finished the season with 10 goals and 48 points in 39 games.

Now that he has signed with the Devils, he will join his brother Jack Hughes as the two look to help the team make an impression in New Jersey’s first playoff appearance since the 2017-18 season. He becomes the third Hughes brother to reach the NHL with the oldest of the trio, Quinn Hughes, playing for the Vancouver Canucks. Jack, a two-time All-Star, was the No. 1 pick of the 2019 NHL draft. Quinn, who also played two seasons at Michigan, made the All-Star Game in 2020.

When will the youngest Hughes brother debut? Fitzgerald told ESPN that the Devils are playing for home-ice advantage, which could play a role in determining whether Hughes will play. The Devils entered Saturday second in the Metropolitan Division, just one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the division lead with three games left in the regular season. Fitzgerald also said that the plan for Hughes is to be around the team, be involved with practices, learn the system and be ready in the event he could play.

Devils coach Lindy Ruff told reporters that Luke Hughes will not play Saturday night against the Boston Bruins, but he is practicing with the team.

Whenever Hughes does enter the lineup, he will be part of a team that has boasted one of the NHL’s strongest defensive structures. The Devils, in 5-on-5 sequences, were in the top five in scoring chances allowed per 60 and high-danger chances allowed per 60, according to Natural Stat Trick. They were also seventh in high-danger goals allowed. It’s a team that has mainly used the same six defensemen — Ryan Graves, Dougie Hamilton, John Marino, Damon Severson, Jonas Siegenthaler and Brendan Smith — for most of the season with Kevin Bahl operating as a seventh defenseman.

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