Is Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes going to play for USA in 4 Nations Face-Off championship game against Canada?

Quinn Hughes pulled out of the 4 Nations Face-Off mere days before the event after missing 4 games for the Canucks due to an injury.

Is Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes going to play for USA in 4 Nations Face-Off championship game against Canada?

Quinn Hughes (Image via X)

The 4 Nations Face-Off Championship game is set. Team USA and Canada will battle out once again on Thursday in the championship game. Ahead of this game, there has been a huge buzz regarding the participation of defenseman Quinn Hughes.

The Vancouver Canucks captain was one of the first few players to be revealed as a part of Team USA’ roster. However, due to an injury he pulled out of the event while also considering the future of his team.

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During the tournament, Boston Bruins alternate captain Charlie McAvoy sustained an upper-body injury and was admitted to the Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday night. He was thus ruled out of the tournament.

Team USA have announced Quinn Hughes as his replacement. While this has excited the American fans, there is a major catch.

While Hughes is part of the team, he will be ineligible to play in the championship game on Thursday. This is because only 6 players can dress as per the tournament rules.

Even without McAvoy, the team has Brock Faber, Adam Fox, Noah Hanifin, Jake Sanderson, Jaccob Slavin, and Zach Werenski. So unless any one of them gets injured, Hughes will not be allowed to enter the ice field for the Team USA.

Speaking of other injuries of Team USA, forward Auston Matthews and both Tkachuk brothers – Brady and Matthew Tkachuk are expected to play on Thursday. All of them had previously suffered some injuries and were a doubt for the final game at the TD Garden in Boston.

Quinn Hughes makes his feelings known about his chances of playing in 4 Nations Face-Off championship game

At the start of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, Quinn Hughes was one of the top names who had to sit out and watch from the sidelines. While he is a part of Team USA now, the chances of him playing in the championship game are low. On Tuesday, he spoke with the reporters and made his feelings known regarding it.

Quinn Hughes
Quinn Hughes (Image via X)

The 25-year-old admitted that it was “hard” to watch the action while sitting out. He also went on to explain how Canada was allowed to add Thomas Harley to the team after Shea Theodore and Cale Makar were absent due to injury and illness respectively.

I really want to and obviously it’s been really hard to watch, want to play. The rules are the rules and Canada was able to bring Harley in because Theodore got injured, and Makar was their sixth D-man and then they were down to five. And in the US circumstance, with Charlie going down, they still have their six ‘D‘.

Quinn Hughes told the reporters

Hughes, the reigning Norris Trophy winner has not played in a competitive match since January 31 when his side lost 5-3 to the Dallas Stars. Since then he has missed four games for his team, which has raised concern among the fans. However, the defenseman is currently expected to play in his team’s match against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.