After beating Team Canada in the group stage of the 4 Nations Face-Off, it's time for Team USA to back it up with another victory. The longtime rivals will clash on Thursday night in the championship game in Boston, and the Americans are coming in with plenty of confidence.

For a few days, it seemed like Team USA may get some reinforcements for the title game. Quinn Hughes, a star defenseman for the Vancouver Canucks, was rumored to be joining Team USA before Thursday, but he will now not be coming and will not play according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

“Team USA has been informed Quinn Hughes is not traveling here to Boston to join the team. Wasn’t medically cleared,” LeBrun reported on X. “Sounds like Team USA looking at bringing in a couple of other players just as insurance, because of illness going around.”

Hughes was originally on the Team USA roster to start the tournament but he was forced to pull out beforehand due to an injury. Now, defenseman Charlie McAvoy is out, so many people thought that Hughes would be a good option to replace him.

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That won't be the case, and now the Americans are looking to bring in some more depth in case of more injury or illness. In the end, Hughes' agent said that there were too many moving parts to make it worth it for Hughes to join the team, via LeBrun.

“Spoke with Quinn Hughes’ agent Pat Brisson who said it was a very difficult decision for his client, that Hughes really, really wanted to join Team USA,” LeBrun write on X. “But reality is he still isn’t medically cleared. And likely wasn’t going to play unless Team USA had another D injury or illness. So a tough decision but decision has been made he won’t join Team USA.”

Even without Hughes, Team USA should be very confident in its ability to get another win over Canada. After one slip-up at the start of the group stage games that resulted in a goal for Connor McDavid, the Americans played excellent defense for the rest of the night on their way to a 3-1 victory.