An injury prevented Quinn Hughes from playing for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off earlier this year, but the Vancouver Canucks' captain will get another opportunity to represent his country next February.
Hughes was named to Team USA's "first six" on Monday, part of a series of announcements made for all 12 teams in the tournament.
This isn't the least bit surprising. Hughes was also named to the "first six" for Team USA ahead of the 4 Nations tournament, as he's the best American defenceman in the world, even if he finished behind Zach Werenski in Norris Trophy voting this season.
It has been six years since Hughes last represented his country at an international tournament, as he played for Team USA in both the World Juniors and World Championships in 2018 and 2019.
That's not for lack of trying, as Hughes did everything he could to get healthy enough to play at the 4 Nations Face-Off earlier this year, but his oblique injury kept him out of the tournament. It was a low point for Hughes, who had been eagerly anticipating playing with his brother, Jack Hughes, at the tournament.
Along with Hughes, Team USA named Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, Jack Eichel, and Charlie McAvoy to their "first six," part of a strong team looking to win their first gold medal since 2002, with their hopes buoyed by winning gold at this year's World Championship tournament.
Since Hughes last played for Team USA when he was just 19 years old, his past performances in international tournaments don't provide much to go on in terms of how he might perform at the Olympics. So far, he has 5 points in 18 games at two IIHF World Championship tournaments, and had 5 points in 14 games at two World Junior tournaments.
Since then, Hughes has become one of the best defencemen in the world, winning the 2024 Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman and finishing third this season despite missing 14 games to injury. He is certain to be a focal point of Team USA at the Olympics and will likely quarterback their power play.
Hughes won't be the only Canuck at the Olympics. Teddy Blueger and Arturs Silovs were named to Latvia's "first six" earlier in the day, while other Canucks will surely make their countries' respective rosters when they are finalized in late December, such as Elias Pettersson for Sweden, Filip Hronek for Czechia, and Pius Suter for Switzerland.
Suter has actually played in the Olympics before, representing Switzerland at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea at the age of 21 before he played in the NHL.He had 3 goals and 5 points in 4 games to lead Switzerland in scoring.
Of course, it's entirely possible that Suter will no longer be a member of the Canucks next season, as he's a pending unrestricted free agent in line for a major raise.
