Worst is confirmed for Vancouver's Ilya Mikheyev

There's not been very much that's gone right for the Vancouver Canucks this season, and that's just on the ice. We're all aware of the incredible drama surrounding now-former head coach Bruce Boudreau and the unbelievably tone-deaf comments made by team president Jim Rutherford.

Now, Rick Tocchet is running the show, and despite winning his first game as Canucks head coach over the hapless Chicago Blackhawks, reality would soon set in for Vancouver with an embarrassing setback against the division rival Seattle Kraken.

But now, another blow has been dealt to the Canucks in what has truly been a miserable campaign. Right wing forward Ilya Mikheyev is officially done for the season; he'll be having ACL surgery, thanks to an injury that he's been playing on for the past four months that he suffered during training camp. According to Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin, he's been playing on the injury since September. 

This is his first season with the Canucks since agreeing to a four year, $19 million dollar contract this past offseason. In 45 games played so far in 2022-23, he's scored 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points.

"It's been a challenge for me, but we worked hard with the medical staff and try to find some way that I could play much better," he said. "And now, it's time."

Said his agent Dan Milstein: 

"We got 2nd and 3rd opinions and talked with specialists, we knew this day was coming," he said. 'Ilya and myself would like to thank Canucks management and the medical staff, we were all on the same page."