Stars place Cameron Hughes on waivers

A veteran pivot has hit the waiver wire.

On Thursday, the Dallas Stars placed center Cameron Hughes on waivers.

Hughes is now available to be claimed by the other 31 teams in the NHL. If he clears waivers, he’ll be eligible to be assigned to Dallas’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Texas Stars.

Hughes, 30, has yet to get into game action for the Stars this season after he suffered an upper-body injury during preseason. As a result, he began the year on injured reserve.

The Edmonton native played in just three games for Dallas last season, notching a goal and no assists. He had a very strong season with Texas, however, registering 17 goals and 51 assists for 68 points in 65 games, before contributing a goal and five assists for six points during Texas’ first-round playoff loss to the Chicago Wolves in five games.

Selected by the Boston Bruins in the sixth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Hughes finished a four-year collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin, including his junior season in which he had seven goals and 25 assists for 32 points in 37 games, before becoming a full-time professional in the 2018-19 season.

Over four-plus seasons in the Bruins’ organization, Hughes appeared in only two NHL games, going scoreless. With the AHL’s Providence Bruins, he continued to improve, culminating in his 2021-22 season with Providence in which he scored 14 goals and added 31 assists for 45 points in 59 games.

Ahead of the 2022-23 season, Hughes signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Seattle Kraken. He spent both years in the Kraken’s organization with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, where he put up 44 goals and 69 assists for 113 points over 130 regular season games.

He then joined the Stars organization ahead of the 2024-25 season, in which he had 23 goals and 34 assists for 57 points in 69 games for Texas.