Jack Hughes

Jack Hughes (born May 14, 2001) is an American professional ice hockey center for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). Selected first overall by the Devils in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, he has established himself as a dynamic offensive talent, known for his elite skating, vision, and scoring ability, including a franchise-record 99 points (with a career-high 43 goals—the first Devils player to reach 40 goals since 2009) in the 2022–23 season and three NHL All-Star selections. He won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, scoring the overtime game-winning goal to secure the victory for Team USA in the men's hockey final against Canada (2-1 in 3-on-3 OT) at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy. In his seventh NHL season during 2025–26, Hughes started strongly with 10 goals in 17 games as of mid-November following shoulder surgery that sidelined him for the end of 2024–25, highlighted by a hat trick on October 21 and being named the NHL's Third Star of the Week on October 27; however, on November 15, 2025, he underwent surgery for a finger injury and is expected to miss approximately 8 weeks. He returned earlier than expected on December 21, 2025. On January 12, 2026, the Devils defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-2 in the 'Hughes Bowl', a matchup featuring brothers Jack and Luke Hughes of the Devils against their brother Quinn Hughes of the Wild, with Jack recording one assist.

Born in Orlando, Florida, Hughes grew up in a hockey-centric family that profoundly shaped his development. His father, Jim Hughes, is a former college defenseman who coached in the minor leagues and served as an assistant with the Boston Bruins before becoming director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs. His mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, was a standout athlete at the University of New Hampshire and represented Team USA at the 1992 IIHF World Women's Championship. The youngest of three brothers—all now NHL players—Hughes shares the ice with older sibling Quinn, who was traded to the Minnesota Wild on December 13, 2025, after serving as captain of the Vancouver Canucks and winning the 2024 Norris Trophy, and younger brother Luke, a Devils defenseman; the family relocated multiple times due to Jim's coaching career, settling in Toronto in 2006 where the brothers honed their skills on outdoor rinks and through intense sibling rivalries.

Jack Hughes was born on May 14, 2001, in Orlando, Florida, to Ellen Weinberg-Hughes and Jim Hughes. The family lived in Orlando, Florida (birthplace of Quinn and Jack), Manchester, New Hampshire (Luke's birthplace), and Boston, Massachusetts, before relocating to Toronto in 2006. His father, Jim Hughes, is Catholic. He played defense at Providence College and later worked as a coach in professional hockey, including stints with NHL organizations such as the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. His mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, is Jewish and an inductee into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. She was a standout three-sport athlete at the University of New Hampshire, competing in ice hockey, lacrosse, and soccer, and she later earned induction into the school's athletic hall of fame; she represented Team USA at the 1992 IIHF World Women's Championship, where the U.S. won silver, and taught her sons the fundamentals of skating.

In 2006, when Hughes was five years old, the family moved from the United States to Toronto, Ontario, to advance Jim's coaching career with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League and to immerse the children in Canada's premier hockey development environment.

Hughes grew up alongside two brothers who share the family's deep hockey roots: older brother Quinn, born October 14, 1999, in Orlando, Florida, and a defenseman for the Vancouver Canucks; and younger brother Luke, born September 9, 2003, in Manchester, New Hampshire, and a defenseman for the New Jersey Devils.

Hughes has Jewish heritage through his mother. He had a bar mitzvah and grew up celebrating Passover. Jack Hughes began skating at the age of three, taught by his mother Ellen, and continued developing the skill after the family's relocation to Toronto in 2006, where his family had moved to immerse the brothers in Canada's premier minor hockey scene. Influenced by his parents—father Jim, a former college defenseman and NHL skills coach, and mother Ellen, who represented Team USA at the 1992 IIHF World Women's Championship—Hughes quickly developed a passion for the sport, practicing on local outdoor rinks and in the family basement alongside brothers Quinn and Luke.