from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,
In my first mock draft in advance of the June 22-23 event in Dallas, I have the Detroit Red Wings selecting Hughes, 18, with their first pick, at sixth overall. Rasmus Dahlin will go first overall to Buffalo and Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Zadina are projected to be the next two to go, and it’s also expected that Brady Tkachuk will be gone by sixth. Hughes might be gone, too, but if he’s available, he’d be my choice ahead of other terrific possibilities such as defenseman Evan Bouchard and Noah Dobson, and forwards Oliver Wahlstrom and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
I selected Hughes because he’s a dynamic skater, a great puck transporter, a gifted player who held his own as the youngest player in NCAA Division I hockey in 2017-18. He was third in scoring at Michigan with 29 points (five goals, 24 assists) in 37 games, along with a plus-14 rating.
from Ryan Zuke of Mlive,
Hughes, whose 28 points led all Big Ten freshman defenseman last season, is a projected top 10 pick in this year's entry draft in Dallas, and many NHL pundits have the Red Wings selecting Hughes at sixth overall.
Rotoworld, The Athletic, and NHL.com's Adam Kimelman all project Hughes going to the Wings in their mock drafts, while TSN's Craig Button and The Sporting News have the smooth-skating defenseman with a high hockey IQ being taken by the Arizona Coyotes at No. 5.
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