No Thatcher Demko. No Quinn Hughes.

No hope?

The Vancouver Canucks hit the ice on Thursday ahead of their three-game road trip, which begins against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.

According to Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy, Hughes was not on the ice for practice at the Hurricanes’ training facility. He later reported that Hughes is injured and listed as day-to-day.

Here were the lines, according to Murphy.

Forwards

Kane – Pettersson – Garland
Boeser – Reichel – Sherwood
MacEachern – Räty – DeBrusk
Bains – Sasson – Karlsson

Defence

M. Pettersson – Myers
E. Pettersson – Willander
Joseph – Hronek

Drew O’Connor was also absent based on the lines from practice. Victor Mancini was back at practice but skated as the seventh defenceman.

Hughes got banged up during the second period of Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. He went down clutching his left arm after being tangled up with Mark Scheifele, and he stayed down on the ice for over two minutes while being attended to by the Canucks medical staff.

The Canucks captain appeared unable to move his left arm, suggesting that a return could be unlikely.

However, he missed just one shift and returned minutes later for a Canucks power play.

“I saw that we were [on the power play], they said it on the radio,” Hughes said on Tuesday night. “They were taping me up, then I heard that, so it was just good timing.”

Hughes had three assists against the Jets, registering a helper on every one of the Canucks goals.

For a team that’s already expected to miss Demko for the next 2-3 weeks, losing Hughes for any extended period of time could be a death sentence for the Canucks playoff hopes in 2025-26.

Through 14 games this season, the Canucks defenceman leads the league, averaging 27 minutes per game.

The 25-year-old has also proven to be a tough character when it comes to battling through injuries. He played with a brace on his hand for a long stretch last season, and nearly played for Team USA at the 4 Nations despite suffering a torn oblique muscle just two weeks earlier.

However, you have to wonder if the wear and tear is starting to catch up to Hughes. He’s already missed three games earlier this season due to a lower-body injury.

If Hughes does miss time on this road trip, it’s hard to see the Canucks climbing from 28th in the standings with upcoming games against the Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers.

If he is out for any length of time, it will further fan the flames of any rebuild talk among Canucks fans.