Vancouver Canucks captain Hughes pulls out of 4 Nations
Vancouver Canucks fans will not be able to watch their captain Quinn Hughes suit up for Team USA at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off.
Hughes has been dealing with an oblique injury that has kept him out of the last four Canucks games. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday that the 25-year-old was dealing with an “agonizing” decision on whether or not to play for his country or rest up for the Canucks playoff push.
Friedman confirmed on Sunday afternoon that Hughes has decided to sit out the tournament.
Quinn Hughes is officially out of the 4 Nations.
Was an agonizing decision for him. Badly wanted to play, but Canucks need him for race to playoffs.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 9, 2025
This would have been Hughes’ first chance at representing the USA in a best-on-best tournament. According to Friedman, this was not an easy choice for the Canucks captain as he badly wanted to pull on the stars and stripes for the tournament.
It’s bad news for Team USA as Hughes was expected to be a major part of the team’s defensive group. Instead, Friedman also reported that Ottawa Senators’ youngster Jake Sanderson is expected to fill his spot when the tournament gets underway on Wednesday.
Jake Sanderson is replacing Hughes on the USA roster
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 9, 2025
Though Hughes will miss the highly anticipated tournament, this will allow him some extra time to recover from his injury and come back to full health when the Canucks get back in action. Vancouver is currently three points up on the Calgary Flames for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference and not having Hughes in the lineup would make their final push for the playoffs much more difficult.
Canucks fans will still have other players to watch for at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Elias Pettersson will suit up for Sweden while goaltender Kevin Lankinen will represent Finland. There will also be a lot of attention paid to former Canucks star J.T. Miller, who would have been a teammate of Hughes on Team USA.
Sweden and Canada open up the tournament on Wednesday while the United States takes on Finland on Thursday night.