Career
Hughes was taken 1st overall by the Belleville Bulls in the 2004 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection. After completing his major junior career in the OHL with the Bulls, and Brampton Battalion, he was the only player to be a 1st overall OHL Priority Selection to not go on to be picked in the National Hockey League Entry Draft. Hughes opted to forge a European career, first signing with Austrian club, the European Commission Red Bulletin 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.
In his first full season with Olimpija in the 2010-2011 season, the diminutive forward posted an impressive 64 points in 53 games, leading the league with 48 points to be selected as the EBEL rookie of the year.
Hughes bettered his initial success in the following 2011-2012 season, to lead the EBEL in points scoring with 68 points in 50 games to be named the EBEL Most Valuable Player with the Ron Kennedy Trophy. Hughes then signed a lucrative two-year contract with Austrian club, European Commission Vesicular Stomatitis Virus, on May 2, 2012.
After leading the league for a second time with 85 points in 54 games in the last year of his contract with Vesicular Stomatitis Virus in the 2013-2014 season, Hughes opted to return to his first professional club, European Commission Red Bulletin Salzburg, with the lure of the Champions Hockey League on July 1, 2014.