Will Q. Hughes Stay in Vancouver? Insights on His Participation in the 4 Nations Final | NHL.com

Hughes found it tough to step back from the U.S. roster. He expressed gratitude towards U.S. GM Bill Guerin for understanding his situation. It was hard for him to make the call, but he knew it was necessary.

As captain of the Vancouver Canucks, Hughes is eager to return to action against the Vegas Golden Knights this Saturday at 10 p.m. ET. The Canucks are currently in a good spot, holding the second wild card in the Western Conference playoffs with 27 games left in the season.

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Hughes admitted. “I’ve looked forward to this opportunity for a long time. I appreciate Bill Guerin’s patience, not just recently but over the past few days. He understood my commitment to the Canucks and how much I wanted to represent the U.S.”

Hughes shared that he didn’t feel healthy enough to play at the tournament. “I didn’t want to risk making my condition worse,” he said. “If I had pushed through and ended up having to come back to Vancouver, I would miss more games with the Canucks.”

He sees a silver lining, though. “The good news is I should be ready to play against Vegas,” Hughes noted. He added, “If it weren’t for everything else going on, I would have jumped at the chance to be there.”

Will he pack a bag just in case he needs to join the team? “We’ll see what happens. I’ll keep in touch with everyone and play it by ear,” he said. “I could fly there and back, but we’ll just take it one step at a time.”