It appears that Quinn Hughes will not be joining Team USA at the World Hockey Championships, which has left fans in a complete state of shock. The <a href='https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/vancouver-canucks-eliminated-playoffs' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Vancouver Canucks are eliminated from playoff competition</a> mathematically with the Minnesota Wild overtime win against the San Jose Sharks. After starting the year with Stanley Cup aspirations, the disappointing <a href='https://www.nhl.com/standings/2025-04-10/wildcard' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Canucks are now 36-29-13</a>, not even decent enough for a second-consecutive playoff appearance. It is a deflating ending to a year for a club that won last year's Pacific Division title and pushed the eventual Cup finalist Oilers to seven games in an epic first-round series. <h3>The Canucks dealt with more injuries than almost any other team</h3> The season was also marred by injuries. Injuries piled up, particularly to veterans such as starting goaltender Thatcher Demko, captain Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Dakota Joshua. <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/vancouver-canucks/quinn-hughes-breaks-his-silence-on-the-vancouver-canucks-losing-3-top-forwards-due-to-injury' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>The Canucks were never really at full strength,</a> and some of the top stars had off years, and that was part of the issue with the team. Distractions from outside were of no help, and it was a tough spot to establish consistency in an ultra-competitive Western Conference. Since the season is now complete, Hughes and Demko both opted out of competing with Team USA at this year's IIHF World Championship. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/DhaliwalSports/status/1910360427059663352'> </a></blockquote></div> Hughes, who fought injuries all season, already said that he wants to rehab and rest, and Demko wants to rehab after fighting an injury-filled season. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/wyshynski/status/1910372042400006333'> </a></blockquote></div> The Canucks become the first Canadian team to be mathematically eliminated this season, a gloomy fate for a team that envisioned much greater things at the beginning of the year.