Canucks not taking chances with Quinn Hughes’ mystery injury
The Vancouver Canucks are prudently trying to protect their most valuable player with Quinn Hughes only seeing a “slight” improvement in his undisclosed condition.
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VANCOUVER – In an effort to keep him “forever,” the Vancouver Canucks will do everything they can to make Quinn Hughes happy. Except, play him tonight against the Colorado Avalanche.
Canucks coach Rick Tocchet confirmed for reporters after Tuesday’s morning skate that the team captain and superstar defenceman will miss a second straight game with what seems to be a lower-body injury sustained during Vancouver’s 5-3 road loss to the Dallas Stars on Friday.
Hughes sat out the Canucks’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday after taking the pre-game warmup at Rogers Arena.
Tocchet said today there has been only a “slight” improvement in Hughes’ undisclosed condition.
“He’s not going to play tonight,” the coach said. “You know, he wants to gut everything out, but it’s the right move.
“You take it day by day with him or with anybody. So we’ll see. I’ve seen guys, things linger. (And) I’ve seen some guys after 24 hours, things help. So we’ll see how it goes.”
Hughes, whose 59 points lead the Canucks by 25 and who is having an even better season than during his Norris Trophy campaign a year ago, is expected to be paramount to Team USA at the Four Nations tournament that starts next week.
In the context of his availability for that showcase event, it’s important to remember, as Tocchet said, that the 25-year-old is being held out of the Canucks’ lineup. He wants to play, feels capable of playing.
Hughes skated on his own ahead of the team’s Tuesday morning and did not appear to be labouring in drills like he did during the third period in Dallas.
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But the Canucks are prudently trying to protect their most valuable player.
“We haven’t even talked about Four Nations, honestly,” Tocchet, who is part of Team Canada’s coaching staff, said of Hughes. “It was (about) tonight, and then he’s not playing tonight. As the days go on, we’ll have to revisit that.”
Later in his press conference, Tocchet said: “Anytime you have a guy like a Quinn or that type of player, they play so much, anytime they can get rest, they’ve got to take it. Because he plays a lot of minutes — he plays a lot of stress minutes. It’s not just the minutes, it’s stress. He’s always out there in stressful situations. Not playing the next couple games, use that as a positive that he is getting rest.”
Sportsnet clarified that by “next couple of games,” Tocchet meant the Sunday and Tuesday games that Hughes will miss. No decision has been made about Thursday’s road game against the San Jose Sharks.
The organization hopes that Hughes may be able to practise on Wednesday and will be back in the lineup before the Canucks’ pre-tournament schedule ends with Saturday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Vancouver.
Given what the Canucks have endured so far this season – and the emotional burden Hughes has carried as captain amid the turmoil – his injury would need to be serious for the team to deny him the opportunity to play with his younger brother, Jack, in the first best-on-best tournament of their professional careers.
In his interview with the Globe and Mail newspaper last week, Canucks president Jim Rutherford said of Hughes: “We’d like to figure out a way that he’s here forever.”
The best defenceman in franchise history has two more seasons after this one on his Canucks contract.
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Team USA opens the Four Nations tournament against Finland next Thursday in Montreal.
For the Canucks, Hughes is irreplaceable. But his absence is slightly mitigated by the arrival in trade last Friday of top-four defenceman Marcus Pettersson, who logged 26 minutes against the Red Wings. Another of the four new players harvested in the J.T. Miller trade, 22-year-old defenceman Vittorio Mancini, could make his Canucks debut against the Avalanche.
Mancini was partnered in the morning skate by Carson Soucy, the 30-year-old who was healthy-scratched by Tocchet on Sunday.
“We’ve all been through it,” Tocchet said of Soucy. “Sometimes you need to, whether it’s a reset or, you know, whatever — I hate to say a kick in the ass — but a little bit to jumpstart yourself. We felt he needed that.”
Vancouver’s top two defence pairings tonight will be Pettersson with Tyler Myers and Derek Forbort alongside Filip Hronek. Thatcher Demko starts in goal for the Canucks.
