Quinn Hughes is already one of the most popular people in Vancouver, and he hasn’t even laced up his skates for an NHL game yet.
But according to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, he could do so soon.
“Quinn Hughes skated today for the first time with Vancouver, but they play five [games] in eight days so there’s not much time for Quinn to get some practice time with the big club,” Kypreos said during Saturday’s ‘Headlines’ segment on Hockey Night in Canada.
Hughes, the Canucks’ seventh-overall draft pick last June, has been dealing with a bone bruise in his ankle. The 19-year-old defenceman suffered the injury on March 8 during the first game of the University of Michigan’s Big Ten first-round series against Minnesota. The Wolverines were eliminated with their loss one game later, and Hughes signed his entry-level deal with the Canucks the following day.
Hughes-Watch has officially been on since the signing, but as Kypreos pointed out, it’s a matter of giving the youngster enough time to feel comfortable before getting him into the lineup.
“He’ll skate with the extras, but he’s been told, ‘When you’re ready, when you feel good and 100 per cent, you let us know. You’ll play,'” said Kypreos. “Maybe an outside shot of Thursday (vs. the Kings) or perhaps next weekend (vs. the Stars), that we see him in a Vancouver Canucks uniform.”
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