Hughes leads the Canucks in scoring with 60 points, and his 46 assists are the most among NHL defensemen. His return comes as the Canucks are fighting for a playoff spot. Wednesday night's win put them one point ahead of Calgary for the second wild card in the Western Conference.

Drew Doughty is day to day because of a lower-body injury that kept the defenseman out of the Kings' game against the Canucks, who welcomed back Quinn Hughes.

Ottawa Senators captain and USA forward Brady Tkachuk has publicly criticized the Vancouver Canucks for blocking Quinn Hughes from joining the U.S. squad ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off final against Canada .

Quinn Hughes will be a game-time decision for the Canucks against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN). The defenseman has missed six games because of an undisclosed injury, which also caused him to miss the 4 Nations Face-Off after he was selected to play for the United States.

The saga around injury replacements and extra players for teams at the 4 Nations Face-Off has a new layer as Team USA was informed the Vancouver Canucks captain

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks hope the potential return of defenseman Quinn Hughes allows them to carry over the momentum they built before the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.