Knee Surgery for Young NHL Star Adds to Already Dwindling Season for Vancouver

The Vancouver Canucks’ recent victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets has sparked a ray of hope for the team this season. Despite the win, the Canucks have bad news as their right winger Ilya Mikheyev won’t be continuing this NHL season because of his knee surgery.

The 28-year-old Russian winger forward tore his left knee’s anterior cruciate ligament during a preseason match on September 25, 2022. Ilya Mikheyev will be going for surgery next week as per Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin, reports ESPN.

The NHL star’s last game this season

Ilya Mikheyev had a pretty well last game as the Vancouver Canucks obliterated the Columbus Blue Jackets. Even after the ongoing Canucks’ management controversy, the player did leave the ice rink in style.

The match was already in the possession of the Canucks, as they were leading the game 2-1. Ethan Bear tried to score but was blocked by Blue Jackets’ goaltender Joonas Korpisalo. The puck went behind the goal net, and Bo Horvat, who was behind the net, gave a pass to Brock Boeser. Boeser was in a tight corner, so he left the puck in the hands of Ilya Mikheyev, and he didn’t miss the shot. Mikheyev put the Canucks way above the Blue Jackets in the match, as the score was 3-1.

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The match ended with a 5-2 victory for the Canucks, but it was the endgame for the Russian NHL star. The season will be ending this April, and the Canucks will be missing their right winger because of his knee surgery. Mikheyev has contributed 13 goals and 15 assists in 46 games to his team, and he will be making a return next season.

Rick Tocchet Talks About Ilya Mikheyev

The new head coach of the Vancouver Canucks is just sad to see his winger get benched this season. Despite several controversies that the team’s management has been recently involved in, Tocchet is proud of Mikheyev’s performance this season.

“Yeah, he’s a good player you know. He’s been given all he has this year and he’s not healthy. So I mean he’s high character guy so we got to get him healthy. He’s a very good hockey player. You know we will use this uh next you know five six months to get him healthy. Kids got a lot of character to play on. You know the way he’s been playing yeah,” Rick Tocchet says during the post-game interview of the Vancouver Canucks versus the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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What do you think of the Vancouver Canucks’ situation after the benching of Ilya Mikheyev? Let us know in the comment section.