Canucks winger Ilya Mikheyev to have season-ending knee surgery
The Vancouver Canucks have shut down Ilya Mikheyev for the season, months after the right-winger suffered a serious knee injury.
General manager Patrik Allvin announced Friday that the 28-year-old forward will undergo surgery next week for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He said Mikheyev suffered the injury in the team's first pre-season game back on Sept. 25.
“Credit to Ilya,” Allvin said. “(He's) been playing on basically one knee and our medical staff (have been) preparing him for all the games up to this point. I think that shows a lot about Ilya's character and will to play for the Vancouver Canucks here.”
Mikheyev was originally listed as week-to-week, missed the team's first three games of the regular season, then went on to make 45 appearances, amassing 13 goals and 15 assists.
He scored in his final appearance of the campaign Friday, a 5-2 Canucks victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The goal marked his 100th NHL point (49 goals, 51 assists).
Tears rimmed Mikheyev's eyes as he spoke with reporters Friday night.
“Tough moment,” he said.
Mikheyev described the injury as an “almost complete” tear. Medical staff have been taping the knee and he's been playing with a brace, but the athlete admitted his speed has suffered this season.
“It's not about pain. It's more about like power,” he said.
Mikheyev has been a big part of the Canucks lineup this season, said Elias Pettersson, who has often centred a line featuring Mikheyev and left-winger Andrei Kuzmenko.
“It sucks,” Pettersson said. “He works hard and obviously, ever since he came here, has been great for us. So it's very unfortunate, but I mean, you've got to think of the future, too, and be ready.”
A native of Omsk, Russia, Mikheyev signed a four-year, US$19-million contract with Vancouver as a free agent last summer. He previously played three seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Allvin said the six-foot-two, 192-pound forward wanted to continue playing despite the injury.
“Our medical staff did a tremendous job here preparing him and we felt that at this point, this will be in the timeline to start to train again,” the GM said.
“It needed a surgery. You're basically playing on one knee here and it speaks highly about his pain tolerance and what he's willing to do.”
Allvin added that he expects Mikheyev to be ready for training camp next fall.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the newest entry to space travel
It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Premier Legault reiterates that McGill pro-Palestinian camp must be dismantled
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'