Following Saturday nights 6-3 loss to the Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks head coach shared an update on his captain, Quinn Hughes.

“He didn’t play the last [few minutes of the period]. He tweaked something. So we’ll look at it tomorrow. I’m not sure right now what’s going on.”

While it’s still unclear when he may have tweaked something, Hughes got tangled up with a Kraken forward after the first of the three Kraken second-period goals and was left lying on the ice.

Hughes played just five shifts in the third period, playing 4:50 and missed the final nine minutes of the game. All in a game where the Canucks were trailing, looking to find the equalizer. The defenceman also left the Canucks bench briefly in the second period before returning shortly after and did not miss a shift.

The Canuck captain suffered an oblique injury on January 31 against the Dallas Stars that held him out of the four games before the 4 Nations break. Hughes also decided to forgo representing Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-off.

Once Team USA ran into some injury troubles on the backend with Charlie McAvoy, there was hope that Hughes would join his country for the Championship Game. However, he was not cleared by the Canucks medical staff. Hughes would miss the Canucks’ first two games after the break against the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Hockey Club.

The Orlando, Florida native currently leads the Canucks with 14 goals and 46 assists for 60 points through 50 games. Despite missing games, Hughes is still third in league scoring by a defenceman, trailing only Cale Makar (by seven in 11 fewer games) and Zach Werenski (by four in nine fewer games).

Hughes was recognized as the league’s best defenceman last season, scoring 17 goals and 75 assists for 92 points in 2023-2024.

Vancouver returns home after their five-game road trip when they look to redeem themselves against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night.