With Quinn Hughes out of 4 Nations Face-Off, brother Jack looking forward to international future together

Credit: Jack and Quinn Hughes (© Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports)

Perhaps the third time will be the charm for the Hughes family.

With the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament kicking off this week in Montreal, Team USA hit the ice for their first practice on Monday. Unfortunately, for New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes, that meant hitting the ice without his superstar brother Quinn. The Vancouver Canucks captain isn’t available for the Americans these next two weeks, as he had to pull out of the tournament due to a lingering lower-body injury, which has kept him out of the Canucks lineup the past four games.

Jack met with the media following practice, and opened up about receiving the news from brother Quinn. After missing out on playing the All-Star Game together last year, and now the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Olympics in 2026 has been circled on the calendar. “He was just like, ‘I’m sorry, I was so pumped,” Jack told reporters on Monday. “But I’m like, ‘we’re both going to play a long time. At some point, we’ll play (together)’ Hopefully, at the Olympics, we’ll get it done.”

“Something he was fighting over for a week now since he got injured,” Jack continued. “He wants to be a part of this and he was really excited to come with this group and put the USA jersey back on. It’s frustrating, but if you’re injured, you’re injured.”

“(Playing with Quinn) was definitely something I was really looking forward to, but it’s hockey at the end of the day,. People get injured all the time. I was looking forward to spending time with him, but it’s all good.”

Despite not playing with his brother, Jack did get his wish and is lined up with Toronto Maple Leafs‘ Auston Matthews. The Devils star went public with his aspirations a couple of months ago on how he’d like first crack at playing alongside the Maple Leafs’ star. Jack spoke to NHL.com’s Mike Morreale a couple of months ago and let his feelings be known.

“Just seeing him and Mitch Marner do their thing,” J.Hughes told Morreale. “It’d be fun to play with a guy that has scored [69] goals in the NHL, so even if it’s a few games, that’s something I’m definitely looking forward to … the possibility of that.”

The Americans open up their tournament play on Wednesday against Team Finland.