It looks like the injury luck has gone from bad to worse for the Vancouver Canucks.
Following Friday morning’s skate, head coach Bruce Boudreau spoke to the media, announcing that the team will be without blueliner Tyler Myers.
“Myers is out 2-4 weeks.”
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 7, 2022
🗣 Coach Bruce Boudreau
The 32-year-old right-handed defenceman suffered a lower-body injury, presumably during his squad’s 5-4 preseason win against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night, which will keep him sidelined for the next 2-4 weeks.
With the injury, the Canucks are even thinner on the blueline, an issue they’ve dealt with numerous times in the past few seasons.
Myers will join Travis Dermott, whose status is still up in the air after the former Toronto Maple Leaf took a hard hit during training camp that left him woozy and needing assistance to get down the tunnel.
As a result, the team will be relying on the services of young guns like Jack Rathbone, as well as depth players such as Luke Schenn, Kyle Burroughs and Tucker Poolman, granted he’s healthy, for their opening night tilt against the Oilers on October 12th.
Poolman, who inked a four-year, $10 million contract last summer, barely dressed for the Canucks during the 2021-22 season, first dealing with a suspension and COVID-19 symptoms before battling migraine-related issues that kept him out of the line-up from January to April.
Fortunately for the team, it sounds like their forward injury luck is starting to turn around.
Following the bad news about Myers, Boudreau did address Brock Boeser and Ilya Mikheyev, both of whom have been dealing with their own injuries.
Boudreau says Boeser and Mikheyev will travel on the #Canucks first road trip. Boudreau adds that Boeser could practice full contact on Sunday
— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) October 7, 2022
Boeser underwent successful wrist surgery at the end of September, with the initial recovery timeline slated at 3-4 weeks. Mikheyev was listed as week-to-week following a heavy hit during the team’s 3-2 OT loss against the Calgary Flames on September 25th.
However, with the Canucks less than a week away from their season opener, the team will need to figure out what they’re going to do with their blueline, and they’ll need to figure it out fast.
What are your thoughts on the Myers injury? Let us know in the comments!