NHL Rumors: Chasing College Free Agent TJ Hughes

Michigan center TJ Hughes is generating NHL interest

The Sheet: David Pagnotta on The Sheet with Jeff Marek on college free agent TJ Hughes

** NHLRumors.com transcription

Marek: “Okay, college free agent season. Very much upon us. I really do wonder as many about TJ Hughes of Michigan. Who is that kind of rare player that you get as the quote, unquote free player coming out of college? You don’t have to pay a price other than the, the entry-level deal.

And with Hughes, unlike a lot of other college players, you’re getting offense, which is rare, we should point out, too. But there’s also Owen Michaels et cetera from Western Michigan. What is the latest far as, far as that landscape goes, Dave?”

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Pagnotta: “Well, with a few of them, there are a lot of teams that are looking to make, obviously, those types of additions. And when you’ve got, you know, certainly a shallow draft pool or prospect pool, sometimes that’s a bit of a sell off for some of these, you know, college prospects, free agents, where the competition is going to be a little bit less, which would suggest the pathway to the NHL is a little bit more vibrant, a little quicker.”

Marek: “Right?”

Pagnotta: “Obviously, no guarantees. You got to play. You got to, you know, you got to work at it. But, you know, just kind of looking at that, there are multiple teams, several teams that would love to get their hands on, on TJ and go from there, obviously, sign him, and then bring him into camp and so on and so on, or have him start the season.

But a lot of interest, you know, in the player. I believe, you know, Toronto has always been a team that’s kind of been looking around the college ranks for some time, and this is a team with a pretty shallow prospect pool. So they’re certainly one of the teams that I’ve, that I’ve heard kind of poking around at some of the college free agents.

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But I would imagine others within that category kind of fit that, would potentially fit that bill for him or for some of the others that are looking to take the next steps in their careers.”

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