Hughes was taken 1st overall by the Belleville Bulls in the 2004 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection.

[citation needed] Hughes opted to forge a European career, first signing with Austrian club, the EC Red Bull Salzburg of the EBEL.

After a short stint in Finland and Germany with Tappara and the Hannover Indians, Hughes returned to the EBEL with Slovenian club, HDD Olimpija Ljubljana.

[1] After leading the league for a second time with 85 points in 54 games in the last year of his contract with VSV in the 2013–14 season, Hughes opted to return to his first professional club, EC Red Bull Salzburg, with the lure of the Champions Hockey League on July 1, 2014.

This biographical article relating to a Canadian ice hockey centre born in the 1980s is a stub.