A Look Back At The Last Time The Canucks Played Without Quinn Hughes

For the first time in over two years, the Vancouver Canucks might have to play a game without captain Quinn Hughes. While Hughes has not officially been ruled out of Saturday's game against the Seattle Kraken, Rick Tocchet did say he is doubtful for the Pacific Division matchup. With this in mind, here is a look back to October 2022, when the Canucks last took the ice without the 2024 Norris Trophy winner.

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The last time Hughes was not in the lineup for Vancouver was on October 28, 2022. The night, the Canucks defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 at Rogers Arena. Some standout performances for Vancouver from that night included Bo Horvat, who finished with two goals and Spencer Martin, who made 34 saves in the victory.

While the Canucks did go 2-2-0 in Hughes' absence, they struggled not just defensively but to generate shots on goal. Vancouver averaged 23.5 shots for per game, compared to 34.3 against per game. They also allowed 13 goals over the four games while also managing 13 for, in large part to the five scored against Pittsburgh. While some of the stats from these four games are odd, the most unusual may be the power play, which went six for 12.

With no Hughes to play over 25 minutes, the Canucks needed to rely mostly on Tyler Myers and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Over the four games, Ekman-Larsson averaged 24:04 per night, while Myers was not far behind at 23:05. As for some other notable defensemen, Luke Schenn averaged 18:44, while Kyle Burroughs finished the four-game stretch averaging 18:21.

Just like in 2022, Vancouver will need to lean heavily on Myers if Hughes is out of the lineup. Some other defenders who could see increased ice time include Carson Soucy as well as Erik Brännström. In the end, even if it's only one game, not having Hughes available will be a massive problem for the Canucks.