With 4 Nations Face-Off looming, player health will be a talking point
The 4 Nations Face-Off kicks off in less than a week, and while fans are excited to see the first “best-on-best” hockey since the 2016 World Cup, teams are worried that players that are already dealing with bumps and bruises could be at risk for a major injury, including Vancouver Canucks’ captain Quinn Hughes.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the tournament and which players could be having awkward conversations with their teams in the coming days.
Tyler Yaremchuk: How bad someone wants to go to the 4 Nations is obviously a determining factor in a lot of this, but also, there could be more awkward conversations around the league in the next 48 hours. I’m sure the Canucks are sitting there going, “This isn’t the Olympics, Quinn. We’re tied for a playoff spot and you’re a borderline Hart Trophy-finalist. We need in the lineup more than we need you having fun with Team USA.
Frank Seravalli: Good luck telling Quinn Hughes, that. How do you tell someone, in the first best-on-best competition we’ve had in nearly 10 years, and you have to sit out preemptively? This guy has grinded through a lot this year. I look at it and I understand wholeheartedly where teams are coming from. “We’re paying you major money to be a star that helps lift us into the postseason: if you aren’t here, we got no shot.”
But there has to be some carrot in it for the player, be it the enjoyable nature of the competition, or the chance to play with your brother. That has to stand out in a big, big way. But he’s not alone, the conversation is just a totally different one for Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, or Zach Werenski and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Each circumstance is unique, but for Alex Pietrangelo, an Olympic gold medalist for Team Canada, playing in a one-off, made up international tournament that replaces the All-Star Game is not going to move the needle.
It’s just different. This is a totally different generation of players, and there are going to be a lot of difficult conversations along the way. Anthony Cirelli, he’s on watch, as well, for Team Canada, as he’s not practicing today. It feels like, for whatever reason, we averted absolute crisis when it came to these rosters for seven weeks. We didn’t have one player that was named to the team that went down with a long-term injury for seven whole weeks after that. Now, it feels like every game, every time you turn around, you’re on 4 Nations alert.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…