Canucks injury updates: Boeser and Mikheyev skating, Dermott’s status unclear

Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau provided the media with a slew of injury updates after his team’s 5–4 exhibition win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.

Brock Boeser continues to skate regularly after recently undergoing hand surgery. The 25-year-old forward scored 23 goals and 46 points in 71 games with the Canucks last season.

Ilya Mikheyev, who joined the Canucks on a four-year deal this summer, has also begun skating while recovering from a lower-body injury he sustained against the Calgary Flames in late September.

“[Mikheyev’s] skated a couple of times right now. But, I mean, it’s still a process before he’s game-ready,” Boudreau said Wednesday. “Brock has skated five or six [times]. Hopefully, they’re ready sooner than later.”

J.T. Miller didn’t make an appearance in Wednesday’s win over the Oilers, but Boudreau made it clear his absence was pre-planned — and that he should be in the lineup when the Canucks return to action against the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 7.

“The plan was to play him Friday,” Boudreau said. “We didn’t want to throw everybody out there [tonight] and he played a couple games, we only wanted him to play three pre-season games. So, the plan is for him to play Friday.”

Boudreau also touched upon the status of defenceman Travis Dermott, who left Tuesday’s practice after a seemingly innocuous collision. The head coach confirmed the 25-year-old ex-Maple Leaf didn’t skate Wednesday but offered no additional updates.

Finally, Boudreau gave brief updates on sidelined forwards Justin Dowling — “I don’t know 100% when his timetable is” — and Phil Di Giuseppe — “We’re still evaluating, the doctors haven’t really found out if there’s anything really wrong with him.”

Nils Höglander, Tanner Pearson, Conor Garland, and Elias Pettersson (twice) scored in Vancouver’s win at Abbotsford Centre on Wednesday evening. Canucks goaltender Spencer Martin stopped 17 of 21 shots in the victory.