Canucks provide injury updates for four players

Vancouver Canucks head coach Adam Foote provided injury updates for four players on Wednesday. Most notably, forward Conor Garland is set to return for Vancouver’s game against the Dallas Stars on Thursday after missing Monday’s 8-5 loss to the Florida Panthers with an injury he sustained in a fight with the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s Darren Raddysh on Sunday.

Foote also mentioned that forward Nils Höglander’s return following surgery for a lower-body injury he suffered in the preseason will be closer to a 10-week timeline after the original projection of an eight-to-10 week recovery. The Canucks’ second-round pick from 2019 had his surgery on September 29th, which means his likely return will be sometime in mid-December.

Meanwhile, veteran forward Teddy Blueger had a setback in his recovery from a nagging lower-body injury that has kept him out of all but two games this season. The Latvian national hopes to begin skating again in a few days.

Defenseman Derek Forbort has also only played in two games for Vancouver this season, and will remain out for “a while” after having been put on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury on October 15th.

Garland, 29, should provide a welcomed offensive boost to a Canucks team that is currently tied for 16th in the NHL with 3.10 goals scored per game. The former Arizona Coyote is now in his sixth season with Vancouver. In 17 games so far, he has five goals and eight assists for 13 points. Last season, Garland notched 19 goals and 31 assists for 50 points in 81 games, which was in line with his career 82-game average of 21 goals and 29 assists for 50 points.

After playing the Stars on Thursday, the Canucks will host the Calgary Flames on Sunday to finish up a miniature two-game homestand.