The Vancouver Canucks lost a pair of young forwards to injury this week. Winger Markus Granlund will undergo surgery on his ankle and will be out for seven to eight weeks. This means he could be out for the rest of the season, depending on how well the recovery goes.
Hearing Granlund out 7-8 weeks after surgery on ankle. He got 3 opinions from doctors b4 deciding on procedure. #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) February 13, 2018
Markus Granlund Injured
Granlund has already missed one game with the injury. He was hurt during Thursday night’s game with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Granlund rolled his ankle and had to be helped off the ice, as he was unable to put any weight on his ankle.
So far this season, Granlund scored eight goals and four assists for 12 points. He also added eight minutes in penalties. His possession numbers are 46 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of negative 2.8.
Over his five-year NHL career, Granlund has played for the Canucks and the Calgary Flames. He has put up 43 goals and 32 assists for 75 career points in 224 career games. He was originally drafted in the second-round, 45th overall of the 2011 NHL draft by the Flames.
Granlund’s injury likely means more ice time for Reid Boucher. Boucher took Granlund’s spot on the Canucks second line and scored two goals in the win over the Dallas Stars on Sunday. Granlund has also become a key penalty killer for the Canucks. It is unclear who will get this role.
The injury also means that Granlund is unable to improve on his disappointing offensive numbers this season. After a breakout 2016-17 campaign, Granlund has not capitalized. He is in the final year of a two-year $1.8 million contract and was hoping for a better season before looking for a new contract heading into restricted free agency this summer.
