American work 20 19 draw
The 18-year-old striker said: "I have been working hard until this moment, which will be a new chapter for me."
Hughes is from NTDP u 18 team of American Ice Hockey Association. Since this season, he has been the No.1 scholar, although Kaapo Kakko, the right winger of TPS team from Ligaga, Finland, caused some waves in the second half.
New york Rangers chose Kakko for the second place and Chicago Blackhawks chose Saskatoon center Kirby Dach from WHL for the third place.
"My goal is to play in the NHL, so I must work hard in the development training camp and get ready for the new season training camp," Hughes said. "I hope the devil fans can cheer for me. I hope I can spend many wonderful seasons here. I know that they are very enthusiastic, so I am very excited to be a member of the team. "
Rangers chose 1967-68 Kaka (12 team), which ranked highest since the extension of the season.
"My dream is to be the first scholar, and of course, the second place is not bad," Kaka said. "I am very happy."
Hughes, Kaka and Dutch are three of the 20 strikers selected in the first round. These 20 players include 1 1 center, 5 right wingers and 4 left wingers. The rest are 10 defenders and a goalkeeper.
"I was very excited just now," Hughes said. "I hugged my brother, my grandmother, my parents ... it was a fantastic feeling. Everything I do is for this day, and I have an impulse to explode. I am very grateful and grateful to those who support me here today. "
On April 9th, the Devils won the first place in the NHL draft. Many experts hope Hughes can be the first two strikers of the Devil next season. Hughes can start next season as the No.2 center after Nico Heathhill, the top pick in the 20 17 draft.
"He is a dynamic player with keen ice hockey awareness and good competitiveness, which can make other players in the same group better," Devil coach John Hynes said of Hughes.
Ray Shero, general manager of the Devils, said that he finally decided to choose Hughes in the middle of this week.
"What really excites me is Jack's ice hockey IQ, skating and agility ... In short, as a faster ice hockey player, his intuition tells him," Shero said. "He is a child with clear goals and knows what he needs. I think the IIHF World Championships is a wonderful journey for him. He plays and trains with those NHL players. This is why we chose him for short-term and long-term goals, and we will help him follow the footsteps of those excellent players step by step. "
Hughes is the first of the eight NTDP U 18 players selected in the first round, and the record of entering the top three is seven times.
In the first round, there were 1 1 Americans, 1 1 Canadians, 4 Swedes, 3 Finns, and one each in Germany and Russia.
NTDP goalkeeper Spencer Knight was selected by Jaguar 13. He is Andrei Vasilevskiy, the first goalkeeper to enter the top 20 since he was selected by lightning at 20 12 19.