In a rather quiet fashion, Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins confirmed everybody’s fears earlier today, indicating that rookie defenceman Ben Hutton will be out for longer than just last night’s game.

Hutton suffered his undisclosed injury on Wednesday against the Winnipeg Jets, presumably while blocking a shot. He was out of the lineup yesterday against Chicago and wasn’t expected to play against New Jersey later this evening, a two-week timeline now means he’ll likely miss the following five to seven games as well.

Hutton has been a pleasant surprise for the Canucks, proving himself to be in the upper half of Vancouver’s defensive core in just about every way, be it drawing penalties, picking up points, or driving possession. Hutton is second to only Alex Edler in points among Canucks defencemen this year.

Losing him is no doubt a shame, but thankfully, didn’t come at a horribly inopportune time. Dan Hamhuis and Luca Sbisa are both back in the lineup after nursing injuries of their own, and Taylor Fedun gives the team a seventh defenceman should they need one.