Showing impressive offensive prowess as a defenseman since the beginning of his time with the Canucks, he was nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best rookie in 2020.

His mother Ellen Weinberg-Hughes played for the United States women's national ice hockey team and his father was the director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

[5] However, before joining the USNTDP, he made a verbal commitment in January 2015 to play NCAA hockey at the University of Michigan for their 2017–18 season.

[11] During his rookie season, in which he was the youngest NCAA male ice hockey player, Hughes recorded five goals and 24 assists in 37 games.

[14][15] Leading up to the 2018 NHL entry draft, Hughes was considered a top prospect player due to his skating and puck-moving ability.

During the 2019 Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, he suffered a foot injury in a 3–2 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers on March 8, 2019.

[23] After an x-ray showed limited damage to his foot, Hughes played the following night in a 4–1 loss to the Golden Gophers, which thus eliminated the Wolverines from the playoff series.

[25] After signing, Hughes underwent an MRI by the Canucks medical staff and was discouraged from skating for a week as a result of his foot injury sustained from the Big Ten playoffs.

[33] After going scoreless to begin the season, Hughes recorded his first career NHL goal in their home opening game against the Los Angeles Kings while the Canucks were on a power play.

[41] Due to his successful start to the season, Hughes was listed as a “Last Man standing” option at the 2020 NHL All-Star Game, allowing fans to vote him into the competition.

[42] On January 11, in a 6–3 win over the Buffalo Sabres, Hughes became the sixth fastest defensemen in NHL history to reach 30 assists in 49 games or less.

[52] As a result of his play, he was named a Calder Memorial Trophy finalist alongside Cale Makar and Dominik Kubalík.

[54] He made his postseason debut during the team's qualifying round against the Minnesota Wild and recorded his first multi-point playoff game on August 6, 2020, as the Canucks took a 2–1 lead in the series.

[60] Hughes would finish second in Calder Trophy voting to Cale Makar, becoming the third consecutive Canucks rookie to place in the top two for the award.

[64] In March, Hughes became the seventh quickest defenseman in franchise history to reach the 25-point mark[65] and later became the sixth fastest to exceed 30 points.

[75] Although Hughes was quickly amassing a career-high in points, the Canucks struggled to win games and fired their head coach Travis Green after maintaining a losing 8–15–2 record.

[76] The Canucks replaced Green with Bruce Boudreau, who had previously worked with Hughes' father Jim while coaching the Manchester Monarchs.

[84] As the Canucks began gaining momentum in an attempt to quality for the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, Hughes set a new franchise record for most points by defenseman in a single season.

He surpassed the previous record holder Doug Lidster after tallying a goal and two assists in the Canucks win over the Seattle Kraken on April 27 to total 66 points.

[85] While the Canucks failed to qualify for the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs,[86] Hughes finished the 2021–22 season with eight goals and 60 assists for 68 points through 76 games.

[91] On January 22, the Canucks fired Boudreau after he led the team to an 18–25–3 record to rank sixth in the Pacific Division and 14 points out of a playoff spot.

[93] On March 4, 2023, Hughes tallied two assists in the Canucks 4–1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs to become the fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach the 200-assist milestone.

[95] Hughes and his defensive partner Filip Hronek played important roles in helping the Canucks find early success through October and November.

[96] Following a win over the San Jose Sharks on November 20, Hughes matched his career-high eight goals and became the first player to reach the 30-point mark in the 2023–24 NHL regular season.

[111] A few months later, following the conclusion of his freshman season at Michigan, he was the youngest player named to the senior United States roster to compete at the 2018 IIHF World Championship.

Hughes again won bronze with the United States team, scoring two points in 10 games while averaging 12:13 minutes of ice time.

[113] During his sophomore season at Michigan, Hughes was selected to compete at the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, alongside his brother Jack.

[117] After the Vancouver Canucks season ended, Hughes was one of 17 players named to the United States' roster for the 2019 IIHF World Championship.

[124] His grandfather, Marty, was a former marine and battalion chief with the New York City Fire Department; he came out of retirement to assist firefighters in Queens during the September 11 attacks.

[127] She also played for the United States women's national ice hockey team, and won a silver medal at the 1992 World Championship.