After Mike Sullivan said Quinn Hughes was shipping up to Boston to replace Charlie McAvoy, Hughes and the NHL have said. “Whoa-ohoh.”
With McAvoy ruled out for the rest of the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, Sullivan, Team USA’s coach, announced Tuesday that Hughes was headed from Vancouver to Boston to join the Americans.
Hughes, whose brother Jack is on the roster, was originally on this team, but was replaced late because an injury made his availability uncertain. Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson was then added to the mix.
But he’s healthy enough now, but as of Tuesday afternoon, he remained in Western Canada.
The Athletic’s Thomas Drance asked whether he planned to go East. Drance tweeted:
“I really want to,” says Quinn Hughes when asked if he’ll head East to play for USA.“They still have their six D, so that changes my situation a little bit. ”Says the 4Nations has been great to watch, but hard for him to watch.“I’m proud of those guys,” he says. #Canucks“
Since this is the first and likely only 4 Nations Face-Off (the World Cup of Hockey and the Olympics will replace it every other year), the rules for replacing players on rosters have been unclear.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic called the situation fluid. He tweeted:
“So it’s 48 hours to puck drop for the 4 Nations championship game, and multiple sources close to the Quinn Hughes situation say it’s still fluid as to whether he’s coming here to Boston or not.”
Canada added Thomas Harley when they lost Shea Theodore and Cale Makar was ill. So far the Americans have only officially lost McAvoy.
Sullivan claimed he didn’t know the specifics and suggested asking general manager Bill Guerin, who wasn’t available for queries about rosters or anything else.
Canadian coach Jon Cooper was asked what Hughes would mean to the USA roster and asked the room full of reporters what the rules for adding him were and was amused when nobody was sure.
Without McAvoy, Team USA currently has 19 skaters competing for 18 spots on the dress list for the game. Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk each missed all or part of Monday’s loss to Sweden with injury concerns. Vincent Trocheck was banged up as well, but finished the game.
Still, the Americans didn’t announce any attempts to add a forward, which would seem like a greater need, unless the team is confident that they’ll have enough healthy players to fill four lines.
The Americans have their last full practice on Wednesday and a morning skate on Thursday before the game.
- BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
