Canucks’ Guillaume Brisebois out indefinitely with lower-body injury

The news comes on Saturday afternoon, after the Canucks practice ahead of Sunday’s preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers.

Brisebois was listed on the Canucks training camp roster, but was a part of Group C, with a lot of the prospects and invitees. Ahead of training camp, General Manager Patrik Allvin shared a list of injuries – Jett Woo, Ty Mueller and Anri Ravinskis – but made no mention of Brisebois. However, the 6’2″ defenceman did not hit the ice at all in training camp, and we have yet to see him in the preseason – and now we know why.

The Longueuil, Quebec native played a pivotal role in Abbotsford’s Calder Cup Championship run. He suited up in all 24 games, proving to be a defensive stalwart on the clubs shutdown pairing and penalty kill. Not known for his offensive game, Brisebois still tallied two goals and three points in the postseason.

Drafted in the third-round (66th overall) of the 2015 draft, Brisebois has appeared in a Vancouver uniform in five of the last seven seasons. He’s played in 30 games, scoring one goal and two assists for three points, carrying a minus-7 rating in 14:25 minutes of average ice time.

Brisebois has done his best work at the AHL level, playing in 297 games, scoring 16 goals, 49 assists and 65 points, with a plus-34 rating and 125 penalty minutes.

The loss of Brisebois’ veteran presence will be felt on Abbotsford’s blueline, one that expects to feature the likes of a few young promising defencemen: Tom Willander, Victor Mancini, Kirill Kuryavtsev, and Sawyer Mynio.

Abbotsford’s training camp begins in the middle of next week, before they embark on Calder Cup Championship defence, kicking off their season on the road against the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday, October 10. They will have to wait until Friday, October 24 until their banner raising night in the Abbotsford Centre when they welcome the Ontario Reign to town.