The nightmare season for the Vancouver Canucks continues, this time with two regular forwards headed to injured reserve. Curtis Lazar and Brock Boeser have been moved to IR, with the team recalling William Lockwood and Sheldon Dries in their place.
Boeser was listed as out day-to-day on Monday, so his move to IR is a little curious. The 25-year-old is off to a brutal start to the season (like so many other Canucks) with no goals in his first six games. While he does have four points, Boeser has always been his best when he’s putting the puck in the net, and this year he has only generated nine shots on goal.
Perhaps that is because of this injury, as he did receive a “maintenance” day earlier in the week as well before the team called it an injury. It’s not clear at all when he will be able to return, though if his IR placement is retroactive to Oct. 23, he only needs to miss another few days.
Lazar meanwhile played in Monday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, tallying 11:09 and registering two shots and two hits. The depth forward has turned into an energy and penalty-killing option for the Canucks after having his best professional season with the Boston Bruins last year. Still, given how little upside he offers offensively and his rather pedestrian short-handed performance so far, losing him from the lineup shouldn’t weaken the overall chances for the Canucks very much.
Still, as they whittle away at their depth, it’s only going to be more difficult to dig themselves out of the 0-5-2 hole they are in to start the year. While the front office doesn’t want to rebuild, it does seem like the Canucks are headed for a finish a lot closer to the first-overall pick than the Stanley Cup.
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