Luke Hughes Shines As Team USA Dominates Germany

Entering the 2022 World Junior Championship, Team USA was going to rely on its past experience and defensive prowess as they look to defend their gold medal from 2021. Team USA has one of the best defensive corps in the tournament. One of their key players will be New Jersey Devils prospect Luke Hughes.

After getting to play on the National stage with Team USA at the World Championships, before completing the World Junior tournament, Luke Hughes used his experience and carried it over to the U20 stage. In his first game of the rebooted tournament, Hughes was named game MVP, recording a goal and an assist, as the Americans won 5-1 over Germany. The youngest of the three Hughes (Quinn and Jack already playing in the NHL), Luke became the first of the trio to score a goal at the World Juniors.

The eagle is back. #WorldJuniors 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/9wRaRMmqGn

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) August 10, 2022

With about 6:21 remaining in the opening period, Hughes put the Americans on the board. After receiving the puck from Landon Slaggert, Hughes used his vision and great hockey sense while using his skating ability to get into a shooting lane. From there, Hughes fires the puck passed German goaltender Nikita Quapp.

Head coach Nate Leaman relied heavily on Hughes in the first period as he totalled 8:12 of ice time. This is something Devils management has to be impressed with. As the game shifted to the second period, Hughes’s ice time continue to increase. Hughes was all over the ice for the Americans including tallying an assist on the third goal for Team USA. Through two periods of play, Hughes led the team on the ice with 15:45 total time on ice.

We’re underway in the middle frame. #WorldJuniors

During the break, @NHLNetwork caught up with Luke Hughes, who opened the scoring for Team USA. pic.twitter.com/5huzZd3bRx

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) August 10, 2022

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His workload did not slow down in the third period. Hughes led the way for Nate Leaman’s club with a total of 22:15 of ice time. As Leaman stated after the game Hughes has come a long way since being with the club back in December.

“He is in a much better place, especially to run the power play than he was in December,” Leaman told the media after the game. “We need him to fill the void left by Jake Sanderson and tonight was a good start.”

Sanderson was the top defenceman for Team USA back in December. However, with Sanderson playing with the Ottawa Senators now, Team USA needed someone to fill the void. Enter Luke Hughes.

After having the year to develop at the Unversity of Michigan along with playing Internationally, Hughes grew into his body even more. He knows how to use his frame to his advantage. This is one of the big differences between now and December. Not to mention his skating ability and being so dynamic as a defenceman. Hughes is only going to get better as the tournament continues and with another year of development in college.

“He’s 6’2 but he’s got the dynamics of a player and skater that’s 5’8 and he sees the ice very well” – @LindsayBHockey on Luke Hughes #WorldJuniors @JamieHersch | @usahockey | @NJDevils pic.twitter.com/UEPEeiMCM5

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 10, 2022

As Team USA looks to progress as a team in the tournament, look for Luke Hughes’s role to continue to grow as a leader on the ice for Nate Leaman’s club as he is not afraid to put him out in any situation.

The Americans are back in action Thursday night in Edmonton when they take on Switzerland.