James Nichols
There will be a time when all three Hughes brothers play together wearing the same sweater. Perhaps someday it’ll be with the New Jersey Devils. But in the more immediate future, it won’t be at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
With such limited roster availability as each team is only carrying 23 players to the tournament, there are plenty of snubs who won’t represent their respective countries. Team USA will feature two of the three Hughes brothers on their roster. But, how close was USA’s general manager Bill Guerin to naming New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes to the mix?
USA hockey features plenty of young and exciting talent such as Luke’s brothers, Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes, both named to the 4 Nations roster on Wednesday.
Quinn is joined on the USA blueline by Adam Fox, Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin, Zach Werenski, Charlie McAvoy, and fellow sophomore defenseman, Brock Faber.
Faber—the runner-up to Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in the 2023-24 season—edged out Luke, taking hold of a roster spot.
Despite Faber’s inclusion, the decision makers for Team USA felt now isn’t the time for the Devils defenseman.
“The story would be fantastic,” USA and Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin told New Jersey Hockey Now. “I think one day that will happen. You know, look at Luke. Luke is a heck of a player. I think he’s still cutting his teeth in the league, but he is going to be involved in these tournaments for a long time coming. I just don’t think right now was his time, but I would be shocked if we don’t see that somewhere down the line.”
Perhaps, things would have been different had Luke not gotten off to a late start in the 2024-25 season. Still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, the 21-year-old defenseman missed the first nine games of the regular season.
He later made his season debut at the same time as Brett Pesce—making his Devils debut—and the two automatically became blueline partners.
On their roads to recovery, Luke and Pesce got to know each other well.
Their friendship off the ice only benefitted Luke when they hit the ice together. The sophomore blueliner’s defensive game completely flipped the script from last season.
He’s been excellent in his own end and in the neutral zone. In fact, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe sang his praises, yet, kept it real while explaining there’s still something missing from his game.
“First and foremost, we want him to be really good [defensively], but I think we know he’s got a lot to add offensively,” Keefe said. “We’ve been wanting him to really tap into that as well. I think he’s been really kind of finding that balance early and probably playing a little bit more conservative. I don’t want to play conservative, I want to be aggressive. But he’s trying to find his way. It’s not easy coming in with no training camp, no pre-season, a new coach, new system, new structure and new expectations. But to me, he’s managed it very well, and he’s continuing to get better and better every game.”
Since Keefe’s comments, Luke collected six assists in his last seven games, and although he has yet to find the back of the net, the youngest Hughes brothers offensive abilities have certainly begun to surface.
Yet, his recent uptick in performance is a bit too little too late, and he’s ultimately going to support his brothers from the sidelines.
Guerin and Co. recognized February is probably a bit too soon for Luke to be involved in a best-on-best tournament. Yet, the powers that be also admit his name remains in play moving forward. The USA front office recognized that the 4 Nations Face-Off lineup may differ from the 2026 Olympic roster—which, of note, can bring two additional players.
Perhaps by next Winter, we could see Luke play alongside Jack and Quinn for the first time in their professional hockey careers.
“I think obviously that the Hughes family is a great story. To have three quality athletes like they have as part of one family is an incredible story. They’re great people as well,” USA and Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan explained.
For now, Luke may very well be Jack and Quinn’s biggest cheerleader. But he’ll certainly be on the radar as soon as next year for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“And as Billy said, I think everybody recognizes and acknowledges the skill and the potential that Luke has,” Sullivan concluded. “These decisions aren’t easy. And when you talk about the prospect pool that we had, and we were discussing for this particular roster and for this particular tournament, there was a fairly strong consensus that maybe this was a little bit premature. But, everybody acknowledges the talent that Luke has and certainly will be a part of this thing moving forward, for sure.”
