American NHL star declines invite to represent USA at 2025 World Hockey Championship

The United States missed out on what would have been a major part of their blue line at the 4 Nations Faceoff in February, as Vancovuer Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (who also won the James Norris Trophy last year as the League's best defenseman) was unavailable to play because of injury.

And once again, they're going to miss out on his services in the upcoming 2025 IIHF World Hockey Championships.

Rick Dhaliwal of Vancouver's popular Donnie and Dhali podcast was first with the news, indicating that Hughes (and fellow American Thatcher Demko) will be taking the summer to rest after what has been an injury-filled year for both.

The games will be played from May 9 through May 25 and will be co-hosted by Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark.

Hughes, who played college hockey in the nearby Detroit suburb of Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan, was available for the taking in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Instead of taking the local product that has gone on to become one of the NHL's best blue liners, Detroit's management team (at the time led by Ken Holland and Tyler Wright) chose instead to select Filip Zadina with the 6th overall pick; the Canucks chose Hughes with the 7th pick.

While Zadina was anticipated to become a routine 25-30 goal scorer, the offensive potential that scouts believed he possessed never materialized. He's now known as one of the all-time busts not only in Red Wings Draft history but also in recent NHL history.

Zadina is back playing overseas, out of the NHL completely.