Quinn Hughes Withdraws From Team USA Roster

Quinn Hughes’ potential trip to join Team USA for the 4 Nations tournament just got a lot more complicated.

The Vancouver Canucks star defenseman was spotted at practice Tuesday, despite earlier reports he was heading to Boston. Turns out, there’s a good reason he stayed put.

Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman reports Hughes will only make the cross-country journey if he’s guaranteed to play in the final game. And right now, that’s far from certain.

It’s a practical decision. The travel schedule would be brutal – Vancouver to Boston, then all the way to Las Vegas. That’s a lot of air miles just to potentially watch from the press box.

The situation opened up when Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy was ruled out of the championship game. But there’s a catch.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed Team USA needs to drop below six healthy defensemen before they can add a replacement. It’s the same rule that let Thomas Harley suit up for Team Canada last Saturday.

“We’re taking each day as it comes,” Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan said carefully. “We’ll see what potential options will be available for the championship game and go from there.”

Right now, Team USA has enough healthy defenders. Unless someone else gets injured or sick, Hughes would likely just be making the trip to sit in the stands.

Seeing Hughes on the ice with his Canucks teammates today pretty much tells the story. Unless something changes in the next few hours, it looks like he’ll be staying on the West Coast.