Brady Tkachuk takes a dig at Canucks' "shady business" of vetoing Quinn Hughes' participation in 4 Nations final

The 4 Nations Face Off's final between Team USA and Team Canada had drama even before players stepped on the ice. American D-man Quinn Hughes went back and forth about participating and ended up not playing, mostly due to the Vancouver Canucks intervening in his decision to play. Quinn Hughes was named one of the stars of the American blue line.

The reigning Norris Trophy winner was expected to lead the defensive charge, but leading up to the tournament, he seemed to have injured himself. He was out from the Canucks lineup, missing four games and eventually scratched from the 4 Nations lineup. As the tournament had 23-man rosters and no replacements, every team was allowed to bring in players only if they lacked six defensemen or twelve forwards.

Before the final, Charlie McAvoy injured himself, which led to speculation that Hughes could finally represent his country. He even gave interviews during the Canucks' practice expressing his intent to participate, but soon after the news was confirmed he would travel to Boston, his decision was scratched by the team management because he was still recovering.

Brady Tkachuk made his feelings known about the matter on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast, where he called out the Canucks for picking sides and not letting Quinn join Team USA.

"I actually Facetimed kind of like Quinn when he was figuring it out—when people were saying, 'Quinn might come, Quinn might not come.' I think he was all about coming, but I just don’t think he got cleared by Vancouver to play. Yeah, a little shady business to begin with there. We all know who they were cheering for.

"You know what? I think it just opens the gate for the excitement that this whole tournament was special. We were one shot away and still didn’t have one of the best defensemen in the NHL, if not the best, with Quinn. So, yeah, it creates a lot of excitement," [1:51:30 onwards]

Canucks finally give positive update about Quinn Hughes' return

Quinn Hughes hasn't featured in the Vancouver lineup in all of February. His last game was a 5-3 loss against the Dallas Stars on the 31st of January. His injury is still not disclosed, missing a total of six games. The Canucks have managed to do decently without him, going 3-2-1 during that stretch. Ahead of their game against the Los Angeles Kings, coach Rick Tocchet said that Hughes was a game time decision.

"He's skating out there today, and he's going to go pretty hard to see how he felt," Tocchet said.

Hughes is the Canucks' top scorer this season. He leads the defensemen in the league in assists with 45 and is third in points overall with 59. His non-participation definitely affected Team USA in the final against Team Canada.