The Vancouver Canucks are dealing with some not so great news ahead of the league's break for Christmas holidays, as head coach Rick Tocchet revealed that captain Quinn Hughes is dealing with an injury.
With the Canucks set to take on the San Jose Sharks tonight at 6PM PST in their last game before the Christmas break, Tocchet said his captain and star defenceman will be a game time decision.
Host of 'Down to Irf', Irfaan Gaffar, shared that it's believed that Hughes is dealing with a hand injury, and video from this morning's practice may point to that conclusion as well.
While the captain was being commended for getting some extra work in this morning, there's a good chance he was using the opportunity to test out the injured hand, as he can be seen favouring his left hand in the clip below.
A huge loss if long-term
The Vancouver Canucks, simply put, will be in trouble if Quinn Hughes has to miss significant time.
Already without their second best defenceman in Filip Hronek, the team's d-core will be incredibly thin without their captain and best player.
So far Hughes has 40 points in 33 games, good for second amongst all NHL D, and has been the the Canucks best player without question.
While losing him for even a game will hurt, with the Canucks playing one of the league's worst teams tonight and then off until December 28 - they might be smart to play it safe with Hughes.
At this point, it appears likely that is the route the Canucks will be taking.
