Quinn Hughes' Availability Remains a Mystery for Canucks in Recent Announcement

Elias Pettersson won't play tonight, but is back skating with the team and is getting extra work in with Sergei Gonchar and Yogi Svejkovsky.

Quinn Hughes last played on December 23, and has missed all four games since with an undisclosed injury that some believe is a hand injury.

The reigning Norris trophy winner is having tet another great season for the Vancouver Canucks and they're eager to have him back, especially while they await the return of his partner Filip Hronek as well.

Elias Pettersson's recovery from an undisclosed injury continues though he appears to be close, while Thatcher Demko took the morning skate but there's no timetable for his return from back spasms after leaving Thursday night's game with an injury.

After already dealing with long absences to stars including Thatcher Demko and Filip Hronek and depth players like Derek Forbort, the Canucks continue to be stung by the injury bug.

Dakota Joshua was injured in Friday night's game, but returned in the third period before being ruled out of tonight's game.

While they'd certainly like to see their NHL regulars stay healthy as they push for the playoffs, the constant flow of injuries does give an opportunity for some of their young players to try to secure bigger roles within the organization.

Tonight, Jonathan Lekkerimaki is an emergency call-up and could get a chance to try to fight for a permanent spot in the NHL tonight.