"I don't think anyone played well": Quinn Hughes reviews $58,000,000 Canucks D-man's first game since return from injury

Vancouver Canucks’ captain Quinn Hughes provided a candid review of fellow blueliner Filip Hronek's first game back from injury, a 6-1 drubbing against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

Hronek, who's signed to an eight-year, $58,000,000 contract, had missed the last seven weeks recovering from a lower body procedure due to an injury suffered on Nov. 27 against the Penguins. He was eased back into action with an AHL conditioning stint before rejoining the Canucks in Winnipeg.

When asked about Hronek's return, Hughes said:

"Yeah, he did good. It definitely wasn't easy getting back into game action. I don't think anyone played well, but Fil, we missed him and had some good looks while he defends hard. He always competes and he cares. So I'll take him on my team any day."

The loss extended the Canucks' struggles, dropping them to 19-14-10 on the season. It was their 10th defeat in 13 games. On the game's tone being set early, Hughes said:

"Yeah, of course, tough when you're going on 3-0 after one, and obviously 5 after two ...Yeah, obviously disappointing result and early to process all of it, but yeah."

Kyle Connor (three goals), Neal Pionk, Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele scored for Winnipeg. Nils Hoglander scored for for Vancouver.

Goaltender Kevin Lankinen made 27 saves for the Canucks, while Connor Hellebuyck was solid with 23 stops for Winnipeg.

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HC Rick Tocchet's on Vancouver Canucks' loss to the Winnipeg Jets

After the Vancouver Canucks' lopsided 6-1 defeat to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, coach Rick Tocchet acknowledged his team's ongoing struggles with consistency.

"It's hard to go through people, it's hard to reload properly, it's hard to get the pucks out when we need to. You can't do it once in a while if you want to be a good team. That's what it is," Tocchet remarked.

He didn't mind the start, noting that they had some offensive chances early, but pucks were getting deflected, and they struggled entering the interior.

"We're just missing early and then, all of a sudden bang, bang, miscommunication, we don't reload properly. Obviously, the last half of the game a little bit of fumbling around," he added.

The loss drops Vancouver to 19-14-10 on the season. They will look to bounce back when they face the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.