Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

New Jersey Devils Analysts Call Out Popular Outlet for Snubbing Luke Hughes in New Ranking

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated Jul 12, 2025 3:24 PM ET

Coming into every season, outlets around the NHL like to make rankings, and after a recent list, Devils analysts have called out one list for excluding Luke Hughes.

The New Jersey Devils already landed a star in Jack Hughes, so when they picked up his brother Luke as well, many believed that the young defenseman would be on his way to stardom as well.

Through three seasons, he's shown plenty of promise, putting up a combined 91 points over the past two years as he has shown himself to be one of the most talented players in the league.

However, heading into the 2025/26 season, hockey outlet Puck Empire has gone ahead and ranked the league's top 50 defensemen, and although players like Jonas Brodin, Noah Hanifin, John Carlson and Thomas Chabot made the list, there was no room on there for the 21-year old Hughes.

Whether the rankings are right or wrong, many believes that Hughes should have been on the list, including The Hockey News, who believe that he was snubbed of a spot, even if it was an incredibly hard list to put together, with players likely to be snubbed no matter what the rankings.

After a career high of 47 points in 2023/24, Hughes' production went down to 44 points this past season, but improving upon a -25 differential by getting it to -9, he's certainly taking steps in the right direction to become a better, more well rounded player in the National Hockey League.

Ultimately, this would have been an incredibly tough list to put together, and with other big names omitted from the list, it's tough to single out Hughes as a snub from this ranking, but if he can improve upon a solid 2024/25 campaign, there's no reason why he can't join his brother Quinn on the list in the coming years.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: