A huge wrinkle to Canada and the USA’s 4 Nations Face-Off Championship game Thursday night has come forth.
With United States defenceman Charlie McAvoy set to miss the game after dealing with an upper-body injury that caused him to be hospitalized due to an infection, according to reports from The Boston Globe’s Jim McBride and Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, reinforcements are coming.
USA head coach Mike Sullivan said Tuesday morning that Vancouver Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes was set to join the team. Hughes was originally named to the roster, but injury kept him from actually joining the team.
McAvoy was excellent for the Americans in their game against Canada Saturday night, laying five hits and being a dominant force defensively. Hughes, however, is a different animal. While he may not be the big, strong blue liner McAvoy is, his offensive upside is nearly unmatched among NHL defencemen.
Other injury news has surrounded the American side in recent days. Auston Matthews was dealing with upper-body soreness and missed Monday’s game against Sweden, as did Matthew Tkachuk, who has been dealing with a lower-body issue. Brady Tkachuk, meanwhile, played just 1:55 against Finland after crashing into the net hard early on. All three are expected to be ready for the Championship game.
Canada was able to bring another defenceman onto their roster, with Shea Theodore having sustained an injury in their opening game against Sweden, and another blue liner in Cale Makar, who had an illness and wasn’t able to play against USA.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the USA will need another injury to their team for him to practice with the team, or play.
Head coach Jon Cooper said they will need to put pressure on the USA side in the game.
“A lot of this game is about puck management, and sometimes, it is not as fun to watch,” Cooper said. “There is a lot of hard work. For a lot of the game, you might be working without the puck. But when you put it in places and go get it back, you can lean on teams.
“We have to put stress on them. I didn’t think we did enough (on Saturday). There is a lot of (credit) to them, too. They have a phenomenal team, and they defend and play hard. I think you are going to see two really evenly matched teams go at it.”
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
