Jack Hughes will be the top pick in Friday's draft — congrats New Jersey. Why? Well you can start by looking at the stats: he had 34 goals with 78 helpers for 112 points in 50 games for USA's U18 squad. That's an average of 2.24 points per game.

Add that to being considered elite at skating, stick handling, shooting, the list goes on and on. You may have yourself the best forward prospect since 2015.

"That would be unbelievable. I mean you always dream of being number one, you don't dream of being two, three, or four. I always wanted to be the number one pick and that would be a dream come true if it happened,” said Hughes.

Hughes has also left his mark on his teammates. The USA development program will have several first rounders, and they all rave about Jack's skills on and off the ice.

"You look up to him as a player because on the ice he does so many special things. You kind of look at him and he just pushes you with how good he is," said fellow top prospect Cole Caufield.

If the mystique hasn't grown enough, take a listen to the head of NHL Central Scouting on the center's talent.

"I went to a camp in Toronto. The best three players on the ice were Taylor Hall, Connor McDavid, and John Tavares, this was at a skills camp, the next best player was Jack Hughes. It was a series of skill drills that they were doing that involved skating, quickness, speed, execution, precision, right away you could see he already has an NHL shot for example because you finished it on the play. So he has that talent to belong in that group,” said Dan Marr.

Hughes also comes from a hockey family — older brother Quinn went 7th overall to Vancouver last season.