Elias Pettersson sad he won’t get to play against Canucks teammate Quinn Hughes at 4 Nations Face-Off
When the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters were announced in early February, a total of four Vancouver Canucks were announced as participants.
Now, it’s down to two. First, USA’s J.T. Miller was traded to the New York Rangers a few weeks back. Then, Quinn Hughes had to back out of the tournament due to an injury.
That leaves just two current Canucks taking part in the tournament later this week in Montreal: Sweden’s Elias Pettersson and Finland’s Kevin Lankinen.
When asked about Hughes’ injury, Pettersson said he was disappointed that the Canucks captain wouldn’t be able to participate.
“Yeah, sad for him,” Pettersson told reporters on Monday. “We’ve been talking about playing this, and I know he’s a little bit excited to play with his brother and obviously play for the U.S. So tough for him, but hopefully a speedy recovery for when we’re teammates again.”
Hughes took home the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman last year for the first time. Now 25, Hughes looks like a favorite to win it once again – and perhaps garner some Hart Trophy votes along the way, too. Hughes had a chance to play alongside his brother, Jack, for the first time since the 2019 World Championship – before either had become a full-time NHLer. They took home silver together at the World Juniors a few months earlier.
As Vancouver looks to establish themselves in the NHL standings, Pettersson loves what he’s seeing from his long-time teammate. And at the same time, he’s not surprised.
“I think from last year, to still be able to take steps in this game and dominate the way he does. It’s very impressive to see. I get to see the work he does off the ice all the time too with his diet, he’s very strict about that every day. So yeah, it doesn’t come as a surprise.”
Sweden will kick off the tournament with an 8:00 PM ET game against Canada on Wednesday. The United States will face off against Finland on Thursday, with Jake Sanderson serving as Hughes’ replacement.
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