Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson will not be with the Vancouver Canucks on their upcoming road trip at the Calgary Flames on Tuesday and Seattle Kraken on Thursday, according to coach Rick Tocchet.
“They’re not going to make the trip,” Tocchet said Sunday. “’Petey’ is probably a week away, give or take a day here or there, and Quinn is probably week to week. That’s the update we have for them.”
Hughes, a defenseman and the Canucks captain, and Pettersson, a center, are out with undisclosed injuries. They did not play in a 5-4 overtime loss to Seattle on Saturday.
Hughes last played in a 4-3 win against the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 23, prior to the holiday break. He had two assists and logged 24:45 of ice time. He was considered a game-time decision because of the injury.
“Well, what he has, he couldn’t have hurt anymore,” Tocchet said Sunday. “He’s just a tough kid, and he won us the game with a couple of assists. I don’t think him playing would have made any difference. We’re all hockey players, you want to play. He gutted it out for us, and we won the game.”
Hughes has 42 points (eight goals, 34 assists) and is plus-14 in 34 games.
Pettersson had two goals in the win against San Jose but only played one shift in the third period. After the game, Tocchet said Pettersson was “banged up” but didn’t “think it’s too bad.”
Pettersson has 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 34 games.
Vancouver had a 4-1 lead against Seattle in the third Sunday before allowing three goals in the last 4:45 of regulation. Vince Dunn completed the comeback for the Kraken, scoring at 2:15 of overtime.
The Canucks (17-10-8) are already without defenseman Filip Hronek, who is on injured reserve after sustaining an upper-body injury during a 5-4 loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 27.
“You play the cards you’re dealt,” Tocchet said. “You have some guys that are getting some opportunities, and they have to handle certain situations correctly. So, these guys are getting a lot of reps and it’s going to make us better in the long run. It’s going to make better players of other guys as well.”
