Jack Hughes

Jack Hughes comes from a prominent family of ice hockey athletes. His father, Jim Hughes, played college hockey at Providence College and worked as an assistant coach for the Boston Bruins and director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs. His mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, played hockey, soccer, and lacrosse at the University of New Hampshire, won a silver medal with the United States women's national ice hockey team at the 1992 World Championship, and was inducted into the UNH Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. Hughes is Jewish through his mother and grew up celebrating Passover and having a bar mitzvah, while his father is Catholic.

Both of his brothers are fellow NHL first-round draft picks. His older brother, Quinn Hughes, was drafted seventh overall in 2018 by the Vancouver Canucks, and his younger brother, Luke Hughes, was selected fourth overall in 2021 by the New Jersey Devils. His uncle Marty Hughes and cousin Teddy Doherty both played professional hockey, and his maternal uncle Adam S. Weinberg serves as president of Denison University. Outside hockey, Hughes is an avid reader and partnered with his brother Luke, JAG Physical Therapy, and Hockey in New Jersey to establish the Hughes Brothers Pucks & Pages reading initiative to promote youth literacy.

Hughes grew up playing youth hockey in Toronto with the Mississauga Rebels and Toronto Marlboros in the Greater Toronto Hockey League. After recording 159 points in his final minor year with the Marlboros, he was drafted eighth overall by the Mississauga Steelheads in the Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection. He chose instead to join the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the 2017-18 season.

During his two seasons with the USNTDP, Hughes set all-time program records with 154 assists and 228 points in 110 games. In his first season, he recorded 116 points across the under-17 and under-18 teams, earning the Dave Tyler Junior Player of the Year Award as the top American junior player. In March 2019, he broke Clayton Keller's all-time points record with a five-assist performance against the Green Bay Gamblers.

The New Jersey Devils selected Hughes with the first overall pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft, making him the first player from the USNTDP to be chosen first overall since Auston Matthews in 2016. He signed a three-year entry-level contract in July 2019 and made his NHL debut at age 18. Hughes scored his first career NHL goal on October 19, 2019, against the Vancouver Canucks while playing against his brother Quinn.

Hughes established himself as an elite offensive contributor during the 2021-22 season, scoring 26 goals and 56 points in 49 games, which earned him his first NHL All-Star selection. In November 2021, he signed an eight-year contract extension with the Devils. The following year, during the 2022-23 season, Hughes set a franchise single-season scoring record with 99 points on 43 goals and 56 assists, leading New Jersey to a franchise-record 52 regular-season victories. In the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, he scored on a penalty shot against the New York Rangers in his postseason debut, becoming the fourth player in NHL history to score his first playoff goal on a penalty shot. He later became the fastest player in franchise history to reach 300 points, achieving the milestone in 325 games.

Hughes represented the United States at several international junior tournaments. At the 2018 IIHF World U18 Championships, he was named tournament MVP and best forward after leading all skaters with 12 points. Over two under-18 tournaments in 2018 and 2019, he scored 32 total points, surpassing Alexander Ovechkin's tournament scoring record. In May 2019, at age 17, he became the youngest player to represent the United States senior team at an IIHF World Championship tournament.

Hughes made his Olympic debut at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. In the gold medal game against Canada, he continued playing after losing multiple teeth from a high stick in the third period. In overtime, Hughes scored the game-winning goal to give the United States a 2-1 victory, securing the American men's program its first Olympic ice hockey gold medal since the 1980 Lake Placid Games.