Quinn Hughes not in Boston for 4 Nations; Pesce, Thompson arrive 

BOSTON -- The United States has extra players available for the 4 Nations Face-Off final against Canada on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; Disney+, ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS), but Quinn Hughes in not one of them.

If the U.S has less than six healthy defensemen or 12 forwards due to injury or illness, a player could be added. There has been a stomach bug going around the tournament, so the players would come to Boston to play only in case of an emergency.

Coach Mike Sullivan said all of his forwards are healthy, so barring something happening before game time, an emergency replacement would not be needed. Still, defenseman Brett Pesce of the New Jersey Devils and forward Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres were in the U.S. lockerroom Thursday.

Hughes, the Vancouver Canucks defenseman, who had to drop out of the tournament Feb. 9 because of an undisclosed injury, practiced for a second straight day in Vancouver on Wednesday, this time with a regular jersey. He practiced Tuesday in a red, non-contact jersey.

“Today we did a little bit more," Canucks assistant Adam Foote said Wednesday. "He didn't have the red jersey on, so he participated in the contact, and he pretty much stayed out and finished all the drills and I think he looked good and he challenged himself and they're going through that process (of getting medically cleared) they always do of the medical team and to see when he's going to be ready to play.”

Foote said it's been hard on Hughes, who was on the original U.S. roster.

“It's tough when you want to represent your country but there's a big picture there too and he's still young in his career," Foote said. "I'm sure whether he goes or not, or when he does get cleared, whether it's this time or there will probably be another time, he's a young player, and hopefully one day he can represent.”

Hughes won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman last season and was one of the first six players named to the U.S. roster on June 28. The 25-year-old has 59 points (14 goals, 45 assists) in 47 games this season, which leads Vancouver and is tied for second among NHL defensemen.

But he missed the Canucks’ final four games before the 4 Nations Face-Off because of an undisclosed injury and was replaced on the U.S. roster by defenseman Jake Sanderson on Feb. 9.

Sanderson got to play in the United States’ 2-1 loss to Sweden here on Monday with defenseman Charlie McAvoy missing the game because of an upper-body injury. The Boston Bruins announced Wednesday that McAvoy has an infection in his right shoulder and signifcant injury to his AC joint, two days after he was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital for testing. His condition is improving, but he will not play the championship game.

The Canadians added defenseman Thomas Harley to their roster for their 3-1 loss to the Americans at Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday after losing Shea Theodore to an upper-body injury and Cale Makar to an illness. When Makar returned for their 5-3 win against Finland here on Monday, Harley could not play.

When asked if he was headed back east, Hughes said: “Um, I mean, I really want to, and [the tournament has] obviously been really hard to watch. Want to play, but I guess, from what I can understand, the rules are the rules.

“Canada was able to bring Harley in because Theodore got injured and Makar was sick, so they were down to five [defensemen]. In the U.S. circumstance, with Charlie going down, they still have their six ‘D,’ so I think that is where it changes my position a little bit.

“So, I think if they had to do it over again, they would allow teams to bring a couple extra players, but the League’s done a great job putting this event together. It’s been fun to watch, hard for me to watch, but close with a lot of those USA guys and proud of how they’ve been playing.

“The six ‘D’ that have been there, of course, I want to play, but they’ve gotten us to the point where we’re in a championship game now, and those guys also deserve to play. But in saying that, it’s obviously been hard for me. I’m a competitor and feel like I want to play and need to be there.”

Hughes said it was “extremely hard” to withdraw from the U.S. roster originally, and he seemed to thank Guerin for understanding why he couldn’t play then and why he can’t come to Boston now.

He is also the Canucks captain and expects to return to their lineup for their next game, at the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, CITY, SN, CBC). Vancouver currently holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with 27 games to go.

“Not to be dramatic, but it was extremely hard,” Hughes said. “I think it’s been something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time, and yeah, I mean, I’ve got to thank Bill Guerin for how patient he was with me, not only 10 days ago but even last night and the last 24 hours. He understood how much I wanted to play and also what my obligations were to the Canucks.

“Really what it came down to, I just wasn’t healthy enough where I wasn’t sure that I [couldn’t] get worse, and I felt like I couldn’t be crawling back to Vancouver at the end of that tournament where now I’m missing more Canucks games.

“So, if there’s a positive, I should be ready to go next game against Vegas. But in saying that, you know, if I didn’t have to worry about any of that other stuff, I would have been there in a second and playing with what I got, but had to look at the big picture a little bit.”

NHL.com independent correspondent Kevin Woodley contributed to this report