Tocchet gives injury update on Vancouver Canucks captain Hughes
The Vancouver Canucks shouldn’t expect to have Quinn Hughes at 100% anytime soon.
The captain has been dealing with numerous injuries over the past few months, from a bad hand to a reported oblique ailment. He dressed for just two games in February. Hughes did suit up for the team’s most recent game against the Seatle Kraken on March 1 but didn’t skate for the final 10 minutes with an apparent injury.
Today at practice at Rogers Arena, Hughes spent about 15 minutes with the group before heading off.
“It was a little bit of a plan, I think it’s more important that after 15 minutes he gets off, [give it] another 24 hours, see how he feels. It’s a tough break; it’s been like that for a while with Quinn, and we’re going to have to manage it,” said head coach Rick Tocchet.
Despite missing time with injuries, the star defenceman still has a large lead on team scoring and is well over a point per game. He’s got 14 goals and 60 points in 50 games after missing 12 contests so far this year.
The Canucks are sitting outside the playoffs only because the Calgary Flames own the tiebreaker over them. With 22 games left, there’s plenty of time to make up that minuscule difference.
The challenge for the Canucks is balancing the fact that they need Hughes now to help make a playoff push against the fact that they’ll need him at 100% to do any damage in the playoffs.
“I don’t think it’s to a point where it’s threatening anything; it’s just there’s a little bit of pain, things like that. We wouldn’t let him play if it was physically going to hurt him, like a long-term thing. Nobody is ever really 100% at this time of year, anyway. He’s a competitor, but sometimes I’ve got to intervene and be the bad guy. Listen the guy wants to play, we’re in a dogfight and he’s just that type of guy.”
When Hughes played in recent contests, he was visibly at less than 100%. It lends validity to the theory that the Canucks should give him some extended time off here.
“I have to talk to the trainers,” continued Tocchet. “Is it better to shut him down for seven [games], and then we get him for the last 15? I don’t know at this point; we’ve got to try to figure that out.”
If they do decide to keep him in the lineup, Hughes will need to adjust his game. He won’t be able to stay on full throttle for 60 minutes a night.
“Before he got his hand hurt, or whatever he got hurt, he was playing at an MVP of the league pace; now he’s going to have to temper it… pick your spots, when not to go.”
“I think the last couple of games, he’s pushing it; he wants to put the team on his back, and that, I think, sometimes affects him.”
Tocchet eventually called Hughes “day-to-day,” although that isn’t a very helpful descriptor at this time of year as it can encompass so many different outcomes. The head coach wouldn’t confirm if Hughes would play in tomorrow night’s game.
The Canucks have another injured superstar in Thatcher Demko, who hasn’t played since exiting a start on February 8 early. Tocchet said that Demko is putting good days together but will not likely join the group to practice for at least a few more days.