For the first time since 2014, a New Jersey Devils player is featured on the cover of the NHL video game. Why not one Devils player when you can have two?
Brothers Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks are this year’s cover athletes for EA Sports’ legendary NHL video game NHL25.
They are the first brothers to appear on the cover. The last Devils player to appear on the cover was Martin Brodeur for NHL 14.
Someone made an interesting comment to me about this year’s cover athlete choice. While I’m biased as a Devils fan, would Matthew Tkachuk have been a better choice? Tkachuk is one of the best and most well-known young American talents in the sport.
His Florida Panthers are the defending Stanley Cup champions. Remember last season when he became the face of the NHL during the Panthers’ run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final? He was nominated for the Hart Trophy and his fame landed him a guest appearance on “Inside the NBA,” among other things.
The “he’s a Stanley Cup winner” argument doesn’t apply here, as the preparations for the Hughes brothers to be this year’s cover athletes likely began long before the Panthers’ Game 7 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
On the other hand, Tkachuk has never been more popular, especially among the casual hockey audience, than during the 2023 playoffs.
Tkachuk’s playoff performance this year en route to the Cup final may have convinced the league and EA Sports to make him next year’s cover athlete.
They would have had plenty of time to prepare. The 1995, 1996 and 1997 editions of the video game featured players from the previous year’s Stanley Cup Final, so Tkachuk would have been a good fit for those years.
If we were to defend the Hughes vs. Tkachuk argument based on their performance last year, it would be an imperfect task. While Tkachuk didn’t reach the 100-point mark like he did the previous two seasons, he still finished the regular season with a more than respectable 26 goals and 62 assists.
Jack Hughes missed 20 games last season due to injury and finished with 74 points, while flirting with the 100 point mark in 2022-2023 with 99 points. Jack’s shortcomings are offset by Quinn being the reigning Norris Trophy winner. Luke was also a candidate for the Calder Trophy.
The Hughes family checks a lot of boxes. With Quinn on the Canucks and Jack and Luke on the Devils, the game has found a way to represent both Canadian and American fans.
I said something similar a few years ago when Auston Matthews was chosen as the cover athlete for 2020 (including the fact that he spent his first professional season in Europe).
Tkachuk is American and plays for an American team. There are some cities in Western Canada (Edmonton and Calgary) that would not be happy to give him hockey’s highest “unofficial” award.
The likely reason the Hughes trio beat our hypothetical candidate Tkachuk is due to the league’s marketing efforts to highlight the Hughes family. Even before Quinn, the eldest of the three, was drafted, ESPN called them “America’s first hockey family.”
Quinn was announced as the lead in Amazon’s NHL documentary series, which is set to debut this fall. Choosing the Hughes family as cover athletes offered the NHL too many marketing synergies for the league to pass up.
The NHL cover athlete is awarded based on his marketability, not his performance on the ice, after all. Three Hughes is better than one Tkachuk. Ask Matthew and we’re sure he’d prefer the trophy anyway.
Goalkeeper John Vanbiesbrouck remains the only Florida Panthers player to grace the cover of the NHL video game – in 1997.
