Following today’s Vancouver Canucks practice in Vegas — the club’s final practice before officially returning to game action from the 4 Nations break — head coach Rick Tocchet offered up an injury update regarding two key players to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.

Forward Elias Pettersson is day-to-day with an injury suffered at 4 Nations, and Hughes isn’t quite ready to return to game action when the Canucks resume play against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. As noted in today’s Scenes from Canucks practice, which you can read by clicking here, both Hughes and Pettersson left practice just as things were getting ready to ramp up, per Sportsnet’s Dave Tomlinson.

Hughes sat out the 4 Nations Face-Off to rest up from what is believed to be an oblique injury, while Pettersson apparently suffered an injury while playing for Team Sweden at the tournament. Hughes had hopes of joining Team USA for Thursday’s championship game against the Canadians, but wasn’t medically cleared by the Canucks to do so. He also wasn’t guaranteed to get into the game, as in order to do so, another injury or ailment would have had to occur to a US blueliner. Hughes was a full participant in Canucks practice earlier this week, and while he’s certainly close to being ready to return, there was no guarantee that he’d be good to go when the Canucks return to action against the Golden Knights on Saturday.

It’s been a phenomenal season for Hughes to this point, as the Canucks’ captain is hunting down back-to-back Norris Trophy wins as the NHL’s top defenceman. After putting up 92 points in 87 games last season, Hughes is on pace to eclipse the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career and finish with 90+ points once again, despite being on pace to appear in 73 games instead of 82.

For Pettersson, the disappointment that defined the back half of his 2023-24 regular season and playoffs have continued into this season, as he’s managed just 34 points in 49 games and is on pace to fail to record 20 goals for the first time in his NHL career (not including the season he played in just 26 games). Pettersson’s struggles followed him to the 4 Nations tournament, where he was held pointless through three games for Sweden.

The Canucks return to action against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday before heading for a matchup in Utah on Sunday. It remains to be seen if Pettersson and Hughes will be absent for both of these games.