While most National Hockey League players are enjoying vacations during this two-week break, the best of the best have started practices in preparation for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
New Jersey Devils star center Jack Hughes is no exception. He will be representing the United States in the best-on-best tournament. Unfortunately for Hughes, he was looking forward to playing with his older Brother — Quinn Hughes. As announced by the NHL on Sunday, Quinn backed out of the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Canucks captain missed Vancouver's last four games because of an undisclosed injury.
"It's frustrating," Jack Hughes said. "He's not the only one, though. There's a lot of good players that are injured and can't play in this tournament, but definitely something he's fighting over for a week now since he got injured. He wants to be a part of this. 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."
Quinn won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman last season and currently leads Vacnouver with 59 points (14 goals, 45 assists). The 25-year-old defenseman was replaced by Jake Sanderson of the Ottawa Senators.
“I know Quinn is a USA guy, loves his country, playing with his brother. There’s a lot of positives to that,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said about the decision. “But he’s a smart kid, too. He understands what’s at stake.”
Jack said the news was disappointing for the pair of brothers, especially after Jack was pulled out of playing with Quinn in the 2024 NHL All-Star Game due to injury.
"[I was] probably just like, 'Damn, sorry, man.' That was about it. There's not much of a message. He's just like, 'I'm sorry, I was so pumped,' but I'm like, 'We're both going to play a long time. At some point we'll play — maybe the third year. Last year was All-Star Game, didn't happen. This year, this. So hopefully Olympics next year we'll get it done."Jack Hughes
With Quinn out of the picture, a lot of eyes were focused on Jack in Team USA's first practice on Monday. Jack was paired with Auston Matthews, arguably the top player on this U.S. team, and Jake Guentzel on the USA top line. Matthews, the 26th captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is a fellow No.1 draft pick.
Connecting with Auston Matthews could bring Jack Hughes a lot more confidence when he returns to New Jersey for the rest of the season. This would be crucial for the success of the Devils, as they are third in the Metropolitan Division standings.
The good news for the Hughes brothers is that, suddenly, it looks like there will be many opportunities to share the stage in playing for the U.S., whether in the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics, the 2028 World Cup of Hockey, or the 2030 French Alps Olympics.
"That's the exciting part," Jack said. "Like today is Day 1 of this tournament, but you're hoping it's kind of Day 1 for a new future for USA Hockey. No one's played in the Olympics in, what, 10 years? I think this is a fresh start and a lot of new faces, some high-end players in this tournament that have never played in the Olympics.
Team USA's first game in 4 Nations play is on Thursday in Montreal, Canada at the Bell Centre. The red, white, and blue will take on Finland at 8:00 p.m. EST, broadcasted on ESPN.