Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed to reporters that Quinn Hughes will not play in Wednesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks after he “tweaked something” in Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Seattle Kraken.
Hughes took part in practice with his teammates Tuesday but left after about 15 minutes in what Tocchet says was a planned departure.
Tocchet said Tuesday the star defenceman is “day to day” with an undisclosed injury and that staff will discuss whether to “shut him down” for seven days or so to give him time to heal.
Hughes has dealt with a series of injuries this season, including one that forced him to pull out of the United States’ team at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
He missed six games with the ailment — reported to be an oblique injury — and returned on Feb. 26, but was hurt again in Vancouver’s loss to the Kraken.
Hughes is the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the league’s top defenceman and leads the Canucks (27-22-11) in scoring with 14 goals and 46 assists in 50 games this season.
Vancouver is locked in a three-team race for the final Western Conference playoff spot with the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. The Canucks enter Wednesday’s game two points back of the Flames for the final wild-card spot with one game in hand.
The post-season battle makes it difficult to take Hughes out of the lineup, Tocchet admitted.
“Nobody’s ever really 100 per cent at this time of the year anyways,” the coach said. “He’s a competitor, but sometimes I’ve gotta intervene and be the bad guy. The guy wants to play. We’re in a dogfight and he’s just that type of guy.”
The team is trying to pick the right spots to play the 25-year-old defenceman, Tocchet added.
“He wants to put the team on his back, and that, I think, sometimes affects him,” he said. “Obviously, he wants to get out there, but he’s going to have to manage when he should go, when not to.”
