While I still think Dahlin comfortably is the best and highest potential player of the "big 3" young defensemen of Hughes, Makar and Dahlin, I agree that Hughes is criminally underrated because of his height, despite being physically strong. Height is something I will never understand why people put so much weight on.
He is a great defensive player, just like Dahlin, but is considered mediocre defensively only because of his size, while anyone who understands the game can see that he is effective both in physical duels and using his stick. Height and physical ability are completely different, Hughes is a strong, physical player, and definitely a better defensive player than both Makar and Heiskanen, but people assume that size correlates with defensive and physical ability for some stupid reason, it is just ridiculous.