Travis Green Confirms Markus Granlund Will Require Ankle Surgery, Out Long-Term

Speaking to the media after this morning’s practice, Canucks head coach Travis Green confirmed that Markus Granlund will need surgery on an ankle he injured last week in a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning last week.

Granlund, who is a pending restricted free agent, suffered the injury in the third period in a puck battle with Lightning winger Ryan Callahan and didn’t return to the game afterwards. He hasn’t played in the Canucks two games since that injury.

There’s no word on the specifics of Granlund’s recovery, but given he’s undergoing surgery for what looked like an awful ankle injury in mid-February, the safe bet is he’s probably done for the season. That would be a painful, unfortunate but somehow suiting end to a season that’s fallen short of almost everyone’s (nobody is without their critics) expectations this season.

In 53 games this season, Granlund has just 12 points (eight goals and four assists) to his credit. His two-way profile has taken a hit too, as Granlund’s raw Corsi and Corsi Rel. are both way down from last year, which suggests that the Canucks are doing a far better job of controlling the shot clock with him on the bench. In fairness to Granlund, though, he’s played a lot of this season on a shutdown line that’s played through a gruelling deployment regimen; this doesn’t explain away his terrible results but provides somewhat useful context.

That was the only clarity Green could provide on his banged-up squad. No updates on the status of Chris Tanev, Sam Gagner or Brendan Gaunce, who all suffered injuries on the Canucks recent southern road trip.