The NHL world is now buzzing with anticipation, waiting to see which players will be traded and where they will land. The excitement is reaching new heights with the playoffs just about six weeks away. But hockey fans, even with all the trade talks, one topic just won’t fade away—the 4 Nations Face-Off. While the players may have moved on, debates and heated discussions are still swirling, particularly involving Brady Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes, and Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet. So, what’s the issue that’s been making rounds on ice?

Quinn Hughes, the Vancouver Canucks defenseman, was noticeably absent from Team USA’s roster during the 4 Nations Face-Off. This didn’t sit well with NHL star Brady Tkachuk, who called Hughes’ exclusion ‘shady business’. But Canucks coach Rick Tocchet wasn’t having any of it and quickly fired back at Tkachuk’s remarks.

According to NHL reporter Noah Strang, Tocchet responded to Tkachuk’s comments with a laugh. Strang posted on X, “Rick Tocchet says they laugh at Brady Tkachuk’s notion that #Canucks not letting Hughes play at 4 Nations was ‘shady business’. We can’t even play the guy, so how was he going to play for the Americans?”

Actually, Quinn Hughes hadn’t hit the ice from January 31 to February 26; Brady Tkachuk missed the point. Since February 27, he has played only three games. Two of them are losses, and Hughes has scored only one assist in the last three games. Hughes’ injury is still a status quo but is there an alternate intent like Brady Tkachuk claims?

When Brady Tkachuk appeared on Spittin’ Chiclets’ YouTube channel, he shared some fiery takes on the 4 Nations face-off. “I actually FaceTimed Quinn. Kinda like when he was figuring it out when people were like, ‘Quinn might come, Quinn might not come, ’” Brady said. He continued, “I think he was all about coming, but I just don’t think he got cleared by Vancouver to play. So, it’s a little shady business to begin with. We all know who they are cheering for.” This triggered a response from Rick Tocchet.

It was a brutal and hurtful loss to team USA in the 4 nations face-off as Charlie McAvoy was already out due to the injury. Charlie McAvoy has been out of the season, while Quinn has been injured a third time this season. He faced his first injury of the season on December 28 per Flashscore. After that, he has faced lower body injury on February 2 and again faced the same on March 3. Wanna know more about his latest injury update before Wednesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks? Let’s dive in! 

Quinn Hughes injury update 

First up, here’s a quick update on Quinn Hughes’s injury report for Wednesday’s game: The defenseman is not playing against the Anaheim Ducks. This update came after Quinn Hughes suffered an injury again in the Seattle Kraken game on Saturday. It was a brutal lower-body injury. Earlier this year, he also had an oblique injury because of that which, he had to remain off the ice from January 31 to February 26. Just imagine how he would have felt if he had to miss the most important 4 nations face-off just because of an injury.

Coming back to his Saturday injury, Hughes sat out the final 9:05 in the Seattle game. In fact, he did not practice in Vancouver the next day. Surprisingly, Quinn Hughes did return to practice Tuesday but left after just 15 minutes. He was not on the ice for the Canucks morning skate on Wednesday. Rick Tocchet, while giving an update on Hughes’s injury, said, “He’ll get a bunch of treatment, and we’ll go from there. I don’t know how many days, but we’re going to shut him down tonight and see how it is tomorrow.” The head coach was talking about the impending Wednesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. Yes, impending indeed. 

In the 2024-25 season, Hughes played a total of 50 games to score 14 goals and a staggering 46 assists. This makes his points tally 60. Interestingly, Quinn Hughes ranks 143rd in goals in the entire league, per ESPN. But he really touched the ceiling in assists, given that Hughes is in the top 11 defensemen in assists. This gives him a leap in points ranking as 29th in total points.

Just take a look at what the Canucks head coach said on Quinn Hughes’ future in the season. Tocchet said, “Eighty percent Quinn, we’ll take on our team right now. But we’ve also got to be careful because he wasn’t himself the last couple games, even defensively.” Phew! The situation remains hazy right now for Hughes. We wonder how this injury-laden story of the season would unfold.