As Henrik and Daniel Sedin drift off into retirement, Vancouver Canucks fans can’t help themselves in pondering what it would be like to have American brothers Jack and Quinn on their roster in potentially a year from now.
Quintin or Quinn, a smooth, puck-moving defenceman that grew up in Toronto with his family, was drafted 7th overall by the Canucks at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. The older Hughes announced last week he’d be returning to the University of Michigan to complete his sophomore year with the Wolverines but will be signing with the Canucks after the season.
Younger brother Jack, who’ll return to the U.S. National Development Team instead of opting to join his brother at Michigan, is the projected first overall pick in next year’s draft, which just so happens to be in Vancouver.
If you haven’t heard by now, the Hughes family is on the path to becoming the next best brotherly duo (along with fellow American youngsters Matthew and Brady Tkachuk) to come up in the NHL ranks. This week, the Hughes brothers are in Kamloops, British Columbia, for the World Junior Summer Showcase, and hockey fans in Canada’s most western province are already salivating at the chance of them playing.
On Thursday, the Hughes brothers and the United States faced Team Sweden in the first game of the tournament that was broadcasted on TSN. The Hughes brothers did not disappoint, as their skills were on full display in a game that was very competitive.
Sweden jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Hughes brothers had different ideas. Jack got the U.S. on the scoresheet when he took this cutback pass from Quinn in the slot and rifled one past the Swedish netminder.
With the game now 3-1 after the first period, the older Hughes showed why he was arguably considered the best skater of the entire 2018 Draft when he skated in from the far side of the point into the middle before dishing off to Jason Robertson.
The game turned out to be quiet a good game considering it was hockey at the start of August. The States went on to tie it up at 3-3 before Sweden would pull ahead again. Josh Norris tied things up to make it 4-4 where the two teams then needed overtime.
With only seconds remaining Quinn danced through the zone and made a couple of slicks moves to set up Norris for his second of the game. Check out how much space he has to manuever in overtime at 3-on-3. The skill level and percision to pull that off with seconds remaining shows that Hughes is the real deal.
Hughes finished with three assists, while brother Jack tallied just the one goal. Earlier in the Summer Showcase, the two brothers combined to score an overtime goal, as well as igniting a mini-brawl.
Could you imagine these two running the power play for the Canucks in the future along with Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser, Canucks fans? Oh, and did we mention that this year's World Juniors tournament will be played in Van City and Victoria as well, givING fans in B.C. another viewing of the Hughes brothers together?
Dare to dream.
