Quinn Hughes won't be one of the captains at the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off. It's worth wondering if he'll even be playing.
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was named captain of Team USA, while Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk and Boston Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy, neither of whom are captain of their club teams, were named alternates.
How much that matters to Canucks fans likely depends on whether they believe a letter on the jersey matters and how much they actually care about the 4 Nations Face-Off in the first place. It feels awfully gimmicky and isn't a true best-on-best tournament, so it's hard to muster up much emotion, though that may change when the teams take the ice starting February 12.
But perhaps Hughes didn't get a letter for another reason.
Hughes has been playing through a hand injury since January 6, which only makes his outstanding play in the last few weeks all the more impressive. He has been wearing a brace around his left hand and sharp-eyed fans have noticed that the middle and ring finger on his glove have been taped together as well.
One could argue that it would be in Hughes' best interest to rest during the 4 Nations Face-Off to give his hand a little bit of time to heal. He wouldn't be alone if he did: Alex Pietrangelo has already pulled out of the tournament "to tend to an ailment" despite continuing to play for the Vegas Golden Knights and there are other players who are missing the tournament while on Injured Reserve for their teams, like Jacob Markstrom.
The NHL's deputy commissioner Bill Daly has said they will not force players who opt out from the 4 Nations Face-Off to miss any NHL games, something they have done for the All-Star Game in the past.
The Canucks need Hughes to be healthy if they have any hope of making the playoffs this season and one has to think that is his biggest priority. After all, he'll have an opportunity to play for Team USA in a tournament that actually matters at the 2026 Olympics.
For right now, of course, Hughes is focused on the Canucks' next opponent, the Dallas Stars, as the Canucks look to wrap up their road trip with a fourth-straight win. Incredibly, despite the Canucks' recent struggles, a win would mean they finish January with an above .500 record.
The Canucks are currently 6-6-2 in January. They could make it 7-6-2 — and leapfrog the Calgary Flames into the second Wild Card spot in the West — with a win in Dallas.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
Don't expect any changes to the lineup after the Canucks extended their winning streak to three games on Wednesday against the Nashville Predators. The Canucks have Aatu Räty available at forward and Elias Pettersson and Vincent Desharnais available on defence but are expected to stick with the winning lineup.
UPDATE: So much for not making any changes. The blockbuster J.T. Miller trade obviously throws all the lines into disarray. Here are the Canucks' updated lines based on warm-up:
Elias Pettersson will centre the top line between Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser. Nils Höglander and Linus Karlsson, previously with Pettersson, will now be centred by Teddy Blueger.
Pius Suter will centre the second line with Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland, while Räty enters the lineup as the fourth-line centre between Danton Heinen and Phil Di Giuseppe.
The Canucks' starting goaltender is expected to be Thatcher Demko after a strong performance against Nashville.
“I kind of needed that one,” said Demko after Wednesday's game. “It felt good to be on the winning side here and feel like myself a little bit again.”
Dallas Stars projected lines
Dallas has been a dangerous team this season, with a plus-36 goal differential that ranks second in the Western Conference. By points percentage, they're second in the Central Division behind the top team in the West, the Winnipeg Jets.
They are, however, dealing with some injuries. Tyler Seguin is out long-term after hip surgery, Nils Lundkvist is expected out for about a week with an undisclosed injury, and Mason Marchment took a puck to the face that required surgery a month ago and will keep him out for at least another week.
The most consequential injury, however, might be to Miro Heiskanen, who was injured by Mark Stone when the Golden Knights forward was tripped and then dove forward into his knee while trying to get to the puck. The Stars' number-one defenceman will be out week-to-week and that's a huge loss for the Stars.
The Canucks will be the first team to get a look at the Stars without Heiskanen. Here are the Stars' projected lines, courtesy of Stars beat reporter Sam Nestler:
Jason Robertson - Roope Hintz - Wyatt Johnston
Jamie Benn - Matt Duchene - Mavrik Bourque
Evgenii Dadonov - Sam Steel - Logan Stankoven
Brendan Smith - Oskar Bäck - Colin Blackwell
Thomas Harley - Ilya Lyubushkin
Lian Bichsel - Esa Lindell
Kyle Capobianco - Matt Dumba
Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith
The Stars are still a very dangerous team even with all of the injuries. They get scoring throughout their lineup and give up very little defensively. They allowed the fifth-fewest shots per game and the third-fewest goals per game, so the Canucks will have their work cut out for them generating offence on Friday night.
With Heiskanen out, the Stars will dress seven defencemen, as Brendan Smith skated with the fourth line on Friday morning.
The Stars' starting goaltender is expected to be Jake Oettinger, so the Canucks won't get to face their former teammate, Casey DeSmith. Oettinger has a .912 save percentage in 37 starts this season.
