Jack Hughes, a 20-year-old Jewish center who plays for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, just signed an eight-year, $64 million contract extension. Hughes told reporters, “I am fortunate to be here for eight more years at least, I am really thankful to the ownership group… It’s a really exciting day for my family and myself.”

Hughes was the team’s first overall pick in the 2019 draft and signed a three-year entry level contract with the Devils, which would have expired at the end of this season. Jack Hughes was the first ever Jewish NHL player to be the first overall draft pick.

This season, Hughes played the first two games before suffering a dislocated shoulder injury, which kept him off the ice for five weeks. The injury did not require surgery, and this season, over the course of nine games, he has recorded 7 points, 4 goals and 3 assists.

Prior to joining the National Hockey League, in 2017-2018, Jack Hughes played for the United States National Team Development Program. He recorded 116 points that season, and earned the title as the best American-born junior hockey player, winning the Dave Tyler Player of the Year Award. The following 2018-2019 season, Hughes broke the U.S. National Development Program points record, surpassing Clayton Keller, who had 189 points, with 228 points.

Jack Hughes was born in Orlando, Florida and grew up in Toronto, Canada. His mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, is Jewish, and his father, Jim Hughes, is Catholic. Hughes had a bar mitzvah and celebrated Passover growing up. Jack Hughes comes from an impressive athletic family. His mother, Ellen, was on the United States Women’s National Ice Hockey team, and won Silver in the 1992 World Championships. His father, Jim, played hockey in college, and was previously the assistant coach for the Boston Bruins. Jim Hughes is now the director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Jack Hughes has two brothers who have also been drafted into the NHL. His older brother, Quinn Hughes, is a defenseman for the Vancouver Canucks. He was drafted seventh overall in the 2018 NHL draft. Before joining the Canucks, Quinn played for the University of Michigan for the 2017-2018 season. He put up 29 points, five goals and twenty four assists, in his freshman season. He broke the record for number of assists by a freshman defenseman and was later named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team, and to the All-Big Ten Second team. Quinn went on to represent the United States in the 2018 and 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

In his first season in the NHL, Quinn Hughes made the NHL All- Rookie Team, and was nominated to participate in the 2020 Honda All-Star Game. This season, Quinn has 22 points, is a +6, has 10 power play points, and is averaging over 23 minutes of playing time.

The youngest of the three Hughes brothers is Luke Hughes. Like Quinn, he is a defenseman who is currently playing for the University of Michigan in the NCAA. He was drafted fourth overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2021 NHL draft. If everything goes well with his development, he should be playing alongside his brother Jack Hughes in New Jersey. As soon as Tom Fitzgerald, the New Jersey Devils General Manager, picked Luke Huges, Jack’s jubilant reaction was broadcasted all over NHL Network. Jack had no prior knowledge that his organization was planning on picking his younger brother. Jack commented to a podcast afterwards saying, “it’s not like an everyday thing…it’s very hard for it to happen, it’s an extremely lucky thing to happen, and yeah, we are all pretty pumped up.” Luke commented on the whole experience of being drafted by the Devils saying, “It is a dream come true to play with your brother.”

Quinn, Jack, and Luke collectively made history, as the first American family to have three siblings all get drafted in the first round. Quinn and Jack have already proven themselves as Jewish hockey stars, being integral parts of their teams, and hopefully soon, fans will get to witness all three Hughes brothers playing with and against each other in the NHL.