The Blues recruiting manager welcomed back 2008 players Darren Pfeiffer, Lachie Hill and Sam Jacobs, and made Chris Johnson's and Greg Bentley's status as Carlton players official after the pair had trained with the club since the start of the pre-season.
Jeff Garlett and Luke Stanton are the new names at Visy Park, with Hughes saying the Blues had been keen on the pair throughout the post-season draft period.
"Jeff was probably the one player left off our list from the national draft and we thought we'd like to give him an opportunity," Hughes said.
"We were a bit worried given that he trained at Hawthorn for the last week that someone might snap him up before we picked him, but we're very happy to have Jeff on board.
"He can play on the ball or as a small forward. He does a bit of both and kicked a lot of goals for Swan Districts this year. He's particularly quick, he can do a 15 beep test and he's pretty skilful, so we think he's a really good pick up for a rookie.
"We watched Luke play a lot this year and last year and we thought he was a tad unlucky not to get picked in the national draft.
"We're happy to have him on board. He's a good size and we think that he can turn into a defender … He can also play on a wing because he's very good athletically."
Despite remaining confident of snaring former Demon Johnson in the lead up to the pre-season draft, Hughes admitted it was a relief to finally get it done.
"It's probably fair to say that young Johnson was a player that we targeted to come onto our list for our needs in defence, in particular with his kicking," he said.
Hughes revealed he had long coveted the silky skills of former Power midfielder Bentley and jumped at the chance to make him a Blue.
"We actually liked Greg the year he got taken by Port after watching him with the Dandenong Stingrays that year," he said.
"I followed him quite closely and from what I've seen he certainly deserves another go, so we're happy to give him that."
Pfeiffer, Hill and Jacobs had all been victims of the numbers squeeze leading up to the national draft, but Hughes maintained all had remained in the picture at Visy Park and he backed them to have an impact in the future.
"It doesn't matter when you get picked as long as you get selected," he said.
"We've had players in the past like Shaun Grigg who was in the AIS-AFL Academy and then never got picked in the year when he was first eligible, but he was a Rising Star nomination last year.
"It doesn't matter when you get picked as long as you get a chance. Just get your head down and work hard and you'll get a look in at some stage."
