It was anything but business as usual as the Vancouver Canucks returned to the practice ice after a brief three-day holiday break. Both Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson were absent from the noon-hour skate, and both are listed as doubtful for Saturday’s 1 pm start against the Seattle Kraken.
Hughes played in Monday’s 4-3 win over San Jose despite being listed as questionable for that contest, while Pettersson, who scored twice in the game, left after one third period shift. Both players were to be re-evaluated by the Canucks medical staff on Friday afternoon, and neither is expected to dress for the team’s first game after the Christmas break.

What we saw

Without Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk shifted up to the top line with JT Miller and Brock Boeser, while Pius Suter centred a makeshift second line between Nils Höglander and Conor Garland.
Rick Tocchet opted for some consistency, keeping his third line of Teddy Blueger with Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood together, while the fourth line saw Max Sasson slide back to centre and skate with Dakota Joshua and Phil Di Giuseppe. Both Sasson and Di Giuseppe were recalled from the farm on Friday morning.
Without Pettersson, the Canucks only had 12 healthy forwards on the ice on Friday, so it was all hands on deck up front.
The much larger issue is the absence of the captain. Without Hughes, the Canucks will be missing their scoring leader, single biggest offensive weapon and key play driver. Derek Forbort moved into Hughes’ spot alongside Tyler Myers, Carson Soucy and Noah Juulsen skated together, and Erik Brännström was paired with Vincent Desharnais. Guillaume Brisebois, recalled from Abbotsford earlier in the day, was the extra defenceman and is not expected to suit up against Seattle.
Without Hughes and Pettersson, the Canucks top power play unit had a considerably different look. Brännström manned the point in a group with JT Miller, Brock Boeser, Conor Garland and Jake DeBrusk.
Carson Soucy was the lone defenceman on the second unit and worked with a group that included Pius Suter, Kiefer Sherwood, Danton Heinen, and Dakota Joshua.
Rick Tocchet named Thatcher Demko as his starter for Saturday’s game against the Kraken, who also skated at Rogers Arena on Friday afternoon. With the 1 pm puck drop, neither team will have a morning skate, so this was the lone on-ice session for both teams as they resume the post-Christmas portion of their schedules. The Canucks have 21 games between now and the league break for the 4-Nations Face-off. 

What we heard

Rick Tocchet was asked if there are concerns about either or both of Hughes and Pettersson being longer-term injuries: “They’re pretty well doubtful (for tomorrow). It’s hard to speculate. I don’t know if it’s day-to-day or week-to-week. That’s why they’re going to see their people.”
Tocchet on what he’ll ask Brännström to do in place of Hughes: “You know, you’re not going to replace Quinn Hughes and I don’t need him trying to do things that press the envelope. I think he’s just got to play a simple game to be honest with you. Sometimes, you overlook your shots a guy like him. I want him to shoot the puck. He doesn’t have to create too much on the blueline.”
Tyler Myers on the next man up mentality when the next man up is trying to replace Quinn Hughes: “He’s our best player, so if he’s out it’s going to hurt in some way. But we have guys in the room that can step up and we’ve shown it throughout the first 35 games here. It’s doing the same things over and over again. Doing them consistently no matter if your best player is out. I think guys have done a great job of stepping up and filling in some voids here to start the year. And if we have to do it again, we’ll do it.”
Jake DeBrusk used to Canucks missing pieces already this season: “We’ve kind of dealt with things like that throughout the year. They’re two amazing players and big parts of our team and we’ve missed guys that have been big parts of our team throughout the year. More guys need to step up and it’s kind of the same things we’ve been saying all year. Obviously you can’t replace guys like that, but collectively we can all be better.”
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