Hughes injury seems worse than first reported for Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks may be without captain Quinn Hughes longer than initially expected.
Both Hughes and Elias Pettersson are suffering from undisclosed injuries that forced both of them to miss Saturday’s game against the Seattle Kraken. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported last night that the belief is that neither injury is considered serious and that both Hughes and Pettersson will not be out long-term.
That is certainly good news for the Canucks, but head coach Rick Tocchet painted a slightly different picture this afternoon. He told media that both Pettersson and Hughes will not join the team on their upcoming road trip to Calgary and Seattle.
However, when he got into timelines, it appeared that Hughes is a bit further away than Petey.
“They aren’t gonna make the trip. Petey is probably a week away… Quinn is probably week-to-week,” Tocchet said.
"Some guys are going to get some opportunities."
š£ Head Coach Rick Tocchet provides some injury updates and speaks on the chances for players to step up. pic.twitter.com/MSpD2xK1Se
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 29, 2024
Pettersson being a week away from returning to action would put him in line to miss at least the next three Canucks games, including the two-game road trip and Friday’s game against the Nashville Predators. The more concerning part is Tocchet listing Hughes as being week-t0-week, making it possible he could miss more than a week of action.
Hughes is the heartbeat of this Vancouver squad and the undisputed leader of the defensive corps. Having him out of the lineup for an extended period will have a profound effect on this team on and off the ice. Add that to the fact that the Canucks are already missing Filip Hronek due to injury and all of a sudden, the blueline is looking rather thin.
Though, this is a group who should be used to playing without their star players with both Thatcher Demko and J.T. Miller being out for long stretches this season.
It’s not clear what kind of injuries Pettersson and Hughes are suffering from. The team has not provided any clear picture of the nature of either injury, but there are some theories.
Pettersson took a spill into the end-boards against the San Jose Sharks before the holiday break and appeared to hit his shoulder at an awkward angle while Hughes is reportedly fighting through something affecting his hand, according to Canucks insider Irfaan Gaffar.
Add this to the heaps of adversity that this Vancouver squad has already gone through over the first three months of the season. If they can weather this one, they should be in a good position going into the new year.