Quinn Hughes returned to practice on Tuesday but left after 15 minutes.
Hughes, who remains day to day, sustained his latest injury in a 6-3 loss at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, when he sat out the final 9:05 before also missing practice on Sunday. The loss to Seattle was just the third game back for the reigning Norris Trophy winner after being out for more than three weeks (six games missed).
"I told him, unless you really feel half decent in the sense, I don't want you to push it. So, he went out for 15 (minutes)," Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. "It was a little bit of a plan. It's more important that after 15 minutes he gets off, another 24 hours, see how he feels. It's just a tough break. It's been like that for a while with Quinn, and we're going to have to manage it."
Tocchet wasn't sure if Hughes, who also missed four games with a hand injury from Dec. 28-Jan. 3, will play against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; SNP, KCOP-13, Victory+).
Vancouver (27-22-11) is tied with the Calgary Flames for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conferece.
"I don't think it's to a point where it's threatening anything. There's a little bit of pain, but we wouldn't let him play if it was physically going to hurt him, like a long-term thing," Tocchet said. "Nobody's ever really 100 percent at this time of the year anyways, but he's a competitor, but also sometimes I've got to intervene and be the bad guy. Listen, the guy wants to play, we're in a dog fight (for the playoffs), and he's just that type of guy."
Hughes has 60 points (14 goals, 46 assists) in 50 games, which leads Vancouver and is third among NHL defensemen. He also leads the team in average ice time per game (25:07).
Tocchet said he'll discuss the possibility of a longer absence with the medical team.
"Is it better to shut him down for like seven days and do we get him for the last 15 (games)?" Tocchet said. "I don't know at this point. We've got to try to figure that out."
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