Hughes bringing some Vancouver Canucks teammates to his legendary summer workouts
It feels like every summer Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes adds something to his game.
He’s shown up at training camp in different years with a new weapon, whether that’s extra muscle on his frame or a wicked wrist shot he’s practiced thousands of times.
Hughes spends the summers back in Michigan with his two brothers, Luke and Jack. The three of them workout together and in recent years have skated with other NHL stars like Roman Josi from the Nashville Predators.
It’s a method that’s clearly worked for Quinn and this year, he’s bringing along some Canucks teammates so they can reap the benefits too.
“He’s already thinking about his training,” explained Rick Tocchet today. “This is the guy you want on your team…he’s going to have a couple of his teammates train with him in his elite group of guys who train. That’s what a leader does, and that’s what he’s thinking about.”
While we don’t know which teammates will be joining Hughes, it doesn’t sound like Elias Pettersson is one of them. The idea that Pettersson trains with Hughes this summer has been floated and makes sense, especially considering the Swedish star’s preparation for last season was insufficient, according to Tocchet.Ā
However, Pettersson said at his exit interview that he would be sticking around in Vancouver to put in some extra work before heading back to Sweden. That doesn’t mean he won’t train with Hughes for sure, but it didn’t sound like part of his summer plans.
For the Canucks players who do make the trip to Michigan, this summer could be huge for their development. If Hughes’ past results are any indication, then they could all add another element to their game.
“I’ve always been a big believer you can take big steps in the summer,” said Hughes. “Over the course of my career, just finishing my sixth year, continuing to get better and I think that summer really helps. I know last year in the summer, a big thing for me was that I knew I wasn’t going to have the All-Star Break with 4 Nations and different things and try to stay healthy…this summer is going to be big on just trying to make my body feel as good as it possibly can.”