The Vancouver Canucks will be without star sniper Brock Boeser for at least one game.
The 27-year-old right winger was injured on Thursday when he was hit in the head by LA Kings striker Tanner Jeannot in the neutral zone.
Boeser was not on the ice when the Canucks (7-2-3) skated in the morning ahead of Saturday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers (6-7-1).
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said the forward was being evaluated for an “upper-body injury.”
Head coach Rick Tocchet said he spoke briefly with Boeser on Saturday morning.
“He’s not feeling great, but I wouldn’t say it’s terrible. So I think he’s indefinitely at this point,” Tocchet said. “We’ll see. These things will change in a week or 24 hours, I don’t know.”
Boeser had just played the puck when he tied the game midway through the first period of Vancouver’s 4-2 win over LA on Thursday.
He didn’t seem to see Jeannot coming and spent several moments on the ice before getting up and skating away under his own power. He did not return to the match.
Jeannot was given a match penalty for the play and was handed a three-game suspension by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Friday.
“I mean, it’s dangerous. It’s a dangerous game. And hopefully Brock will be okay,” Tocchet said of the hit.
Boeser’s absence leaves a big hole in Vancouver’s lineup as the Canucks begin a six-game homestand.
The 6-foot-1, 208-pound player from Burnsville, Minnesota, has 11 points in 12 games this year and leads the team with six goals.
Last season, Boeser posted career highs in goals (40) and points (73), and was Vancouver’s leading scorer in the playoffs before a blood clot forced him to miss Game 7 of a second-round matchup against the Oilers.
“Obviously any time he’s not there, you definitely feel it,” Vancouver winger Jake DeBrusk said. “And that requires the ‘next man up’ mentality. Guys get different opportunities, different looks and that’s what hockey is all about.
“So it’s one of those things where he can’t do exactly what he can do, but at the same time we’re trying.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
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