The injury-plagued Vancouver Canucks may get a crucial piece back in their lineup when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.
Star defenceman Quinn Hughes is a "game-time decision" for the matchup, said head coach Rick Tocchet.
"Hughes is a possibility," he told reporters after the blue liner took part in an optional morning skate.
The Canucks captain has missed four games with an undisclosed injury but practised Sunday.
"It's nice to be back. Obviously I hate missing time," Hughes said. "I don't know what it was before. I played, like, 190 games in a row. I want to take care of my body and be available. So we'll see how it goes."
The 25-year-old American won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenceman last year and leads the Canucks in points with eight goals and 24 assists this season.
Vancouver (18-12-8) has struggled with the absences of key players all season and several holes remain on the roster
Centre Elias Pettersson and goalie Thatcher Demko were both on the ice Monday morning, but Tocchet said he did not expect either to be in the lineup against the Habs.
Pettersson has not played since making an early exit from the Canucks 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 23. The 26-year-old Swedish star scored twice before leaving with an undisclosed injury.
Demko has played just seven games this season after working his way back from a rare knee injury. The 29-year-old netminder from San Diego, Calif., left Vancouver's 4-3 shootout win over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday with back spasms, then sat out the team's 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators on Friday.
Vancouver also placed winger Dakota Joshua on the injured-reserve list Monday and recalled forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki from the American Hockey League's Abbotsford Canucks on an emergency basis.
Joshua went down hard behind the Nashville net midway through the second period and went to the locker room before returning for the third.
The bruising 28-year-old forward missed the beginning of the season after receiving treatment for testicular cancer.
Joshua joins top-pairing Canucks defenceman Filip Hronek on the injured-reserve list. Hronek has not played since Nov. 27 as he recovers from a procedure he received for a lower-body injury.
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