Bruce Cassidy offers thoughts on Cameron Hughes’ NHL debut

The Boston Bruins were able to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins by a final score of 6-4 on Monday night. And during the game, Cameron Hughes made his NHL debut.

Hughes was selected in the sixth round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Bruins. He has played parts of the past three seasons with the Providence Bruins and during a full season in 2018-19, he totaled 13 goals and 15 assists in 52 games.

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This season, Hughes had two goals and four assists through 13 games, which prompted his call-up. And after the game, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy seemed impressed with Hughes' work ethic on the ice.

"[He] worked hard, good stick," Cassidy said to reporters. "It was a good, working game. He learned some lessons about how to be strong on the puck. In the neutral zone, there were a couple of loose plays that were just some of the stuff Bjork had to learn. But I liked his game."

This is a solid endorsement of Hughes and one that he deserved. During the contest, Hughes logged 9:53 of ice time and had two blocked shots, tied for the overall team lead and tops among forwards. He didn't log a shot attempt and finished with a minus-1 rating.

The Bruins play again on Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens. We'll see if Hughes ends up in the lineup again as the B's continue to deal with injuries and illnesses that are leaving them shorthanded.