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NHL DRAFT

June 22, 2018

Quintin Hughes

Dallas, Texas

Q. How does it feel?
QUINTIN HUGHES: I'm excited. Obviously I thought Vancouver would be right around my spot, but I think it's a great hockey market and they have got a lot of great talent coming up. I'm just thrilled right now.

Q. Was there ever any point before the draft with you got the sense that --
QUINTIN HUGHES: I got a pretty good feeling when it slipped past Vancouver. I always thought Vancouver was a solid option and I have Jeff Tambellini, the coach at Michigan this year, and he obviously played in Vancouver. And Will Lockwood who has also drafted by Vancouver. They said great things about the city and got me really excited. If there's a spot I wanted to pick, Vancouver would probably be it.

Q. Inaudible.
QUINTIN HUGHES: I think I can bring a lot to the team but obviously those are my strengths. That's why they drafted me, so I'm really excite, and they have got a lot of young talent coming, like I said, they emphasize speed and skill, so it will be fun to get on the ice and play with those guys.

QUINTIN HUGHES: Yes and no. I don't think I really need to go out there on a man hunt and just kind of prove people wrong. Obviously I want to make an impact with the Vancouver Cannucks and they picked me seventh overall to do. So I'm going to try to help their team and make them better and hopefully I can do that.

Q. What's it like sharing the moment with your parents? And two brothers?
QUINTIN HUGHES: It's awesome just to have them here. I was saying before, it's nice to have two parents who know what they are doing, so that always makes it a little bit easier and obviously my brother, the draft is in Vancouver next year, so that's pretty funny. I think he's just watching this and he's excited for next year and I'm excited to support him next year. It means a lot to have those guys there to support me this year.

Q. Playing against older guys, how did that help you this year?
QUINTIN HUGHES: Yeah, it really helped me being around older guys and being able to practice and play against older guys. Not necessarily mentally but just being around those guys it helped for sure and obviously on the ice, just learning how to defend against bigger, stronger guys, it opened up a little bit of eyes and people thought I couldn't defend against bigger stronger guys. It was great for me not only as a hockey player but as a person to go there and be a regular student and meet lots of people. It was good for me.

Q. First time you're eligible --
QUINTIN HUGHES: Yeah, I was sitting next to Patrick Kane in the locker room. That doesn't hurt. The experience was great just being around a bunch of pros. Just seeing the way they practice/handle themselves. It was really good for me and I don't know if it boosted my stock but it definitely didn't hurt.

Q. What do you need to work on to make the next step to the NHL?
QUINTIN HUGHES: I haven't really talked to them too much about that yet. I think they are just, you know, happy about getting me. So you know, maybe when I sit down later at development camp or tonight or tomorrow, whenever it is, I'm sure they will have things for me to work on, and I'm excited because I want to get better.

So whatever those things are, I'm going to try to do. There's a lot of work to be done this summer and I'm excited.

Q. Do you prefer the left or right side?
QUINTIN HUGHES: I played the left majority of the year because we had four righties on our team and I didn't need to play the right. I feel as comfortable on the right as I do on the left. There's positives and negatives to both. If I'm a righty, I can walk in on my forehand and if I'm a lefty, I have to skate over, but -- I don't know if I explained that the best but trust me, there's positive -- there's positives and negatives in both. It's important to learn how to do both but I've done a good job at that.

Q. Left side or right side --
QUINTIN HUGHES: I don't really know Vancouver's defensemen that well. If they have a lot of righties, then I'll probably be playing left and if they have a lot of lefties, I'll probably be playing right.

Q. Another good draft for the Michigan State team.
QUINTIN HUGHES: The program is pumping out kids and if you want to be a hockey player, there's no better spot to do it. My brother, Jack, loved it and Brady loved it. Look at the last couple years in the draft and we got really, really high picks coming out of the program.

It's really the best place to train and develop as a player and like I said if you really want to see a player, that's the place to go. I think I just saw Wahlstrom drafted to New York and he's obviously a great player and I roomed with him at U18 Worlds two years ago and Jack roomed with him this year. Great person and I'm excited for him and we'll see who else goes. FastScripts by ASAP Sports ...

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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