The next Patrick Kane could be the Devils' Jack Hughes

NEWARK — As he scored over 400 goals and over 1,200 points and won three Stanley Cups in his Hall of Fame career in Chicago, Patrick Kane inspired a generation of young hockey players. And when he looks at young Devils star Jack Hughes, he sees a little bit of himself.

“I think he does some things better than I did at that age,’’ Kane said. “I think he's a better overall skater. Probably a little bit more dynamic with his skating ability. But yeah, you can see the similarities."

Kane, who was traded to the Rangers on Feb. 28, is about to get to see some of that dynamic skating ability up close for the next couple weeks as the Blueshirts take on the Devils in a first-round playoff series, which opens with Game 1 at Prudential Center on Tuesday night.

Hughes’ eyes practically lit up when he was asked about Kane.

“I feel like I've talked about this 1,000 times since I’ve been in the NHL,’’ Hughes, 21, said after the Devils’ morning skate Tuesday. “Obviously, as an American, everyone looks up to Patty Kane. A guy like me, you know, [he was my] favorite player growing up. I don't want to pump him up too much before the series but yeah, I have a lot of respect for him. He knows that.’’

Hughes, who had 43 goals and 99 points this season, breaking Patrik Elias’ franchise record, physically looks like Kane, with a 5-11, 175-pound body that is very similar to the 5-10, 177-pound Kane. He’s faster, though, and gets many of his points on breakaways and odd-man rushes, where Kane seems to slow the game down, making diagonal, cross-ice passes that split defenses and create scoring chances for his teammates.

But the winning, and the fact that they’re both Americans, and both No. 1 picks overall (Kane in 2007, Hughes in 2019) makes Kane a natural role model for Hughes to try and emulate.

“You've got to remember, guys like me, that's who you watched growing up, you know? They're winning Cups. And you know, he was the guy for all of us Americans," Hughes said. "So I think all the guys around my age, they have a lot of respect for him and everyone knows he's probably the GOAT American player. So it's pretty cool playing against him over the last few years. And you know, pretty cool watching him [while] growing up.’’

Hughes has a chance to be the next great American player. Last season, the Devils signed him to an eight-year, $64 million deal with the intention to build their team around him. And, with captain Nico Hischier, 24, and some of the other young stars already in place, Hughes could challenge to win Cups in New Jersey the way Kane did in Chicago.

The Rangers certainly are well aware of the challenge Hughes presents in this series. He scored four goals in the four regular-season games the teams played, with the Devils winning three of them. The Rangers entered the series knowing they would need to be aware whenever Hughes was on the ice.

“I think it's just slowing them down,’’ defenseman Ryan Lindgren said of the best way to defend Hughes. “They like to build speed, and especially through the neutral zone. We’ve got to make sure that we're not giving them enough space to fly in. And they're a good off-the-rush kind of team, so I think if we let them build speed, especially Hughes and [Jesper] Bratt and let them kind of do what they want to do out there, it's going to be tough for us."

When Hughes was taken No. 1 overall in the 2019 draft by the Devils, and the Rangers took Kaapo Kakko with the No. 2 pick, people were anticipating watching the two players grow and go up against each other for years. The Hughes-Kakko rivalry hasn’t really developed, but with the teams meeting in the playoffs for the first time since 2012, the Rangers-Devils rivalry could be about to take off.

Hughes was not worried about the Devils taking some of the attention in the New York market.

“We don’t care about that,’’ he said. “We really just want to beat the Rangers, just like they want to beat us.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.