Quinn Hughes didn't play the final 7:12 of the Wild's 5-1 win in Seattle on Saturday, with Vancouver waiting Sunday night.
His only shift in the last nine minutes lasted eight seconds. He still logged 22:49 on the night.
Nobody has explained why. But the clues aren't hard to line up.
The game was decided. Minnesota was cruising, and the Wild play the back half of a back-to-back in Vancouver on Sunday.
And Vancouver isn't just another stop for him. It's the city he left in a December blockbuster that sent him to Minnesota.
Rest, caution, a desire to be fresh for a big night: any of it fits. None of it has been confirmed.
Pulling your best player with a big lead is like clearing the good china off the table before the kids start on dessert. Nothing's broken yet, and you'd like to keep it that way.
Canucks bring a nine-game skid into Quinn Hughes' homecoming
The Canucks are 2-9-1, dead last in the league, and haven't won in nine games.
They're allowing 4.7 goals per game. For a defenseman with 14 points already, that looks like an open invitation.
Hughes added an assist Saturday and sits at +7 on the season. He's doing it on a $7,850,000 cap hit.
Jesper Wallstedt made 23 saves on 24 shots in Seattle. The Wild didn't need anything extra from their top defenseman late.
-
That was the right call. Burning a franchise defenseman's legs in a decided game, with a back-to-back and an emotional night ahead, would've been bad management.
There's another layer too. He still hasn't committed to an extension in Minnesota, and every game in front of a former home crowd gets read for clues.
Puck drop in Vancouver is Sunday night. How that crowd greets him, and how he answers, will be watched well beyond British Columbia.
Was John Hynes right to keep Quinn Hughes off the ice late in Seattle before his Vancouver return?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Auston Matthews confirms major shift in Leafs locker room
