Drastic turn of events arises regarding Quinn Hughes joining Team USA

Elliotte Friedman has revealed that Hughes will only join Team USA if he knows for certain he would suit up for the final game — it would be an exhausting amount of traveling for him to simply be sitting up in the press box.

If Hughes goes to Boston, he would have to go from Vancouver to the East Coast, then all the way back out west to Las Vegas, Nevada, which would take a toll on the body.

The move to put Hughes on standby comes after it was announced that Charlie McAvoy will not play in the championship game.

The U.S. would need to suffer another injury or illness for Hughes to play

Based on the criteria that saw Thomas Harley play for Team Canada on Saturday against the Americans, a team would have to drop below six defensemen to add a replacement.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed that is the case for Team USA. So since there are no confirmed injuries for USA, there would be no guarantee that Hughes would get in the lineup at the moment.

Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan was more discreet when discussing whether Hughes would be available for Thursday's game.

"We're taking each day as it comes, we'll see what potential options will be available for the championship game and go from there," Sullivan said.

As the hours go on, we will hopefully get a little bit more clarity on Hughes' ultimate decision, but seeing him with his Canucks teammates doesn't give a great deal of hope that he will actually make it to Boston.