The defenseman came out of the University of Michigan at the end of the 2018 season, and the hype for his debut was surreal. Today we know it was with reason. Prior to Hughes' NHL debut in 2018, the Toronto analysts on TSN OverDrive weren't as high on him as the fanbase, mainly due to his size. Here's the sequence:
Since then, Hughes has managed to put himself in the NHL's record books and has grown into an elite two-way defenseman in today's game. While he may never live up to Bobby Orr'S illustrious career, the smaller-format defenseman has put up 241 points in 283 games, and he hasn't even turned 24 yet.