Jack Hughes starts what could be memorable career with Devils
Jack Hughes is making his NHL debut with the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. It could be the start of a career worth remembering.
Jack Hughes was born in Orlando, not Ontario. He’s 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds.
By those descriptions, the 18-year-old seems better suited to be attending college courses and working a summer job at DisneyWorld than what he’ll be doing on Friday night.
Instead of wearing mouse ears, Hughes will be wearing a New Jersey Devils sweater in his NHL debut. Fitting perhaps, since the Devils were once famously called a Mickey Mouse organization by Wayne Gretzky in their formative years. Of course, Hughes likely knows nothing about the comment, since it was said 17 years before he was born.
Hughes enters the league with much fanfare. He was the No. 1 overall pick in June, an American wunderkind earning comparisons to Auston Matthews and Patrick Kane. On opening night, Hughes will be playing alongside a pair of fellow top picks in Nico Hischier and Taylor Hall. Both have become stars, with the latter earning MVP honors only two years ago.
With the U.S. National Team Development Program, Hughes starred like few others ever have. In 2017-18, he scored a remarkable 116 points. In the 2018 IIHF World U18 Championships, he was named MVP with 12 points in seven games. The skating, shooting, passing and hockey IQ is there in spades.
In the preseason, Hughes was twice named the game’s first star. In a home date with the hated New York Rangers, Hughes beat goaltender Henrik Lundqvist on a breakaway in the game’s first minute.
Now, Hughes has expectations to meet. He has labels to avoid.
There then, the stage has been set. Hughes is trying to help revive a franchise which finished third-worst in points a season ago with 72. It’s a team with a proud history, the names of Brodeur, Stevens, Niedermayer and Daneyko hanging the rafters of Prudential Center. Across from those banners are a sea of division and conference titles, with the trio of Stanley Cup sheets featured prominently in the center.
While Hall is the team’s best player, and Hischier is arguably its most complete, it is Hughes who now steps to the fore. Without a playoff series win since 2012, an already antsy fanbase is growing increasingly restless. This offseason staved off some of the anger, with general manager Ray Shero acquiring star defenseman P.K. Subban along with intriguing Russian import Nikita Gusev. With Hughes in the mix, there’s a belief New Jersey should reach the playoffs. Anything short would be a considerable disappointment.
In a normal world, expectations would be checked. Hughes is 18, not 28. He’s a kid. He can’t buy beer. He can barely vote. Rent a car? Not for almost a decade. Hughes should be allowed to struggle. He should be allowed a tough night or a bad turnover.
Hughes should, in a normal world, be allowed to fail before succeeding. Unfortunately for him, professional sports is the furthest thing from normal this side of the Kardashians.
On Friday, Hughes takes the ice abasing the Winnipeg Jets in his No. 86 jersey. He’ll look up and see legions of 86s facing him from the stands. The message sent from each of those fans without uttering a word: Hard-earned money was spent on both cloth and ticket. Prove us right.
Hughes was the right pick in June. The Devils won the lottery, both literally and figuratively.
Jack Hughes is a small Floridian who traded in mouse ears for a hockey helmet. Time to create some magic in Jersey.