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Former NHL Executive Voices Ridiculous Take On Quinn Hughes & the Vancouver Canucks
Photo credit: Bob Frid - USA TODAY Sports
A former NHL executive believes that the Vancouver Canucks still have a chance at making it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs without their captain, Quinn Hughes.
The Vancouver Canucks have now been without captain Quinn Hughes for three games after suffering an injury which kept him out of the final half of the third period of their game against the Seattle Kraken back on March 1st.
Hughes' injury is reportedly unrelated to an oblique issue he sustained in late-January, which kept him out of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Craig Button says Vancouver Canucks can make playoffs without Quinn Hughes
Following Vancouver's 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Sunday night, former NHL executive and current TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button shared his thoughts on the Canucks with under six weeks to go in the regular season.
Button was asked by TSN's Jay Onrait if the Vancouver Canucks have a chance at making it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs without their captain Quinn Hughes and the former NHL GM surprisingly said yes.
However, even if the Vancouver Canucks make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second season in a row, Button believes they'll be in tough in the first round if they didn't have Hughes in the lineup.
"They have a chance at the post-season. They have no chance in my view to be able to win a round in the playoffs. When you look at the cut line, they're one point behind Calgary, they're right there with St. Louis.
So can they get in there? Yeah they can get in there. But Jim Rutherford has already stated that they're not a contending team and they need work to become a contending team and without Quinn Hughes in the lineup, you're not going to be a contending team. It's as simple as that." Button said.
So can they get in there? Yeah they can get in there. But Jim Rutherford has already stated that they're not a contending team and they need work to become a contending team and without Quinn Hughes in the lineup, you're not going to be a contending team. It's as simple as that." Button said.
So far this season, without Quinn Hughes in the lineup, the Vancouver Canucks have a record of 6-5-2 in 13 games including wins over Toronto, Colorado and Minnesota.
While the Canucks have shown they can play without him and get wins this season, the team would be in trouble if Quinn Hughes wasn't in the lineup for an extended period of time as he's an offensive leader for the club, putting up 60 points in 50 games thus far.
Hughes drives the offense for a Vancouver Canucks team that has struggled mightily since January 1st, 2025, as they sit dead last in the NHL in goals-per-game.
Hopefully for Rick Tocchet and the Canucks, Quinn Hughes will be able to return to the lineup at some point soon with their next game coming tomorrow night against the Montreal Canadiens.
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily
| POLL | ||
MARS 10 | 460 ANSWERS Former NHL Executive Voices Ridiculous Take On Quinn Hughes & the Vancouver Canucks Do you think the Vancouver Canucks could make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs without Quinn Hughes? | ||
| Yes | 72 | 15.7 % |
| No | 388 | 84.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
