Ilya Mikheyev a full participant in practice as Canucks put in extra power play work at practice in Philadelphia

Another day, another sign of good news on the horizon for the Canucks.

The Canucks hit the ice at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for practice today ahead of Saturday’s tilt with the Philadelphia Flyers. According to The Athletic’s Harman Dayal, Ilya Mikheyev’s non-contact jersey has disappeared and he’s begun practicing on a line with Elias Pettersson and Andrey Kuzmenko.

Mikheyev’s potential return to the Canucks’ lineup is an extremely welcome one with the number of injuries Bruce Boudreau’s team is already nursing. Mikheyev’s Canucks tenure got off to a rocky start when he sustained a lower-body injury in the first game of the preseason, a 3-2 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames. He’d played just over seven and a half minutes before leaving early in the second period.

According to Dayal, Mikheyev was rotating with Nils Höglander on Pettersson and Kuzmenko’s wing, but Höglander was still skating in the main line drills. But the Canucks also dedicated a lot of time working on their power play, with Mikheyev playing the role of penalty killer alongside Vasily Podkolzin.

Based on Boudreau’s early season tendency to avoid shuffling his lines, if Mikheyev is going to return to action anytime soon, we likely won’t know the exact date of his return until after tomorrow’s morning skate in Philadelphia. And based on Höglander’s additional reps with the second power play unit, it’s doubtful that he’ll be coming out of the lineup anytime soon.

Here are the Canucks’ full line rushes from today:

The Canucks and the Flyers play tomorrow at 1 PM Pacific.