Thursday evening, Northeastern secured a verbal commitment from a local prep school talent, breaking a two-month dry spell without a commitment. Riley Hughes, a 2000 birth year forward currently playing at St. Sebastian’s School in Needham, MA, gave his verbal commitment to join Jim Madigan’s program starting the Fall of 2019. Hughes stands 6-foot-1-inch tall, and weighs in at 170 pounds. He is a right wing who hails originally from Westwood, MA.
Congrats to U18 Elite forward Riley Hughes on his commitment to @GoNUmhockey @NUDoghouse pic.twitter.com/7ijfpXN4S5
— Boston Junior Eagles (@BostonJrEagles) November 9, 2017
Hughes is going into his third year at St. Sebastien’s, and is coming off a 29 game season last year where he scored 20 points (11 goals). He is eligible for the 2018 NHL Draft, and is projected to be a possible late-round pick, likely between rounds 5-7. He is the son of Kent Hughes, currently an agent for the NHL Player’s Association and a former college hockey player at Middlebury College. He was drafted by Sioux City in the 6th round of the 2016 USHL Draft, and the 13th round of the QMJHL Draft by Gatineau.
Jeff Cox of SB Nation College Hockey has seen Hughes play extensively in his time at St. Sebastian’s. Tonight he said of Hughes, “Good skater, elite vision, can shoot it and pass it.” In late May, when ranking the uncommitted 2000-born players at the time, Cox said “He’s a good skater who looks the part and has all the physical tools. He’s still putting it all together, but he has a good shot and can be dominant at times. He needs to learn to play more in the scoring areas and out of his comfort zone, but he has upside.”
Cox’s most recent article detailing Hughes came in September, in a post that detailed 2018 draft prospects in New England, and also featured Northeastern commits Aidan McDonough and Jordan Harris. When talking about Hughes, Cox listed vision, passing, skating, and size all as positives about his game, while also detailing his “perimeter game” and consistency as points where Hughes can improve. Other comments included “He has good size and skates well enough. He has a good shot when he gets it off and his vision in the attacking zone is notable,” as well as “Hughes’ stock continues to rise due to his passing and skating ability.”
Mark Bilotta of Neutral Zone Scouting had this to say after Hughes’ commitment:
00 F Riley Hughes commits to @GoNUmhockey. Great shot release: generates quick wrist torque & can pick the corners. Smart possession player who knows how to find the open man. Fits the Husky player profile: skilled offensively. https://t.co/akNwNLTggF
— Mark Bilotta (@mbilotta) November 10, 2017
And Russ Bitely also contributed a few characters to Hughes:
Riley Hughes ‘00 (St. Sebastian’s) gives verbal commit to Northeastern. Good size forward, decent stride, vision, & offensive thoughts.
— Russ Bitely (@russbites) November 10, 2017
Congratulations to Riley on joining the Huskies pipeline! We will update the roster projection HERE. As always, go Huskies!