Canucks rule Ilya Mikheyev out for remainder of preseason; status for season opener up in the air

Injured winger participated in practice Sunday, but still not cleared for contact

Ilya Mikheyev was as involved in a Vancouver Canucks practice on Sunday as he's been since the team started training camp last week. However, the injured forward remains in a non-contact jersey and head coach Rick Tocchet revealed after practice that Mikheyev will not participate in either of the team's two remaining preseason games. 

Beyond that, Tocchet said the club can't say with certainty right now that Mikheyev will be ready for the team's season opener on October 11th against Edmonton. The Russian speedster has not seen NHL game action since January 27th at home against Columbus. That's when the team decided to shut him down last season with a partially torn ACL.

"He's more allowed in contact right now, so we're just kind of giving him a little bit of that," Tocchet said. "Doctors don't want to commit to opening night. I don't know how many practices we have left, but he'll be involved in those. He was doing one on one defending which was really good to see. He held his own out there."

Mikheyev continues to rehab from season ending knee surgery in February. As the video of Sunday's practice shows, he is making significant progress. But Tocchet says it makes no sense for Mikheyev to participate in pre-season games at this point.

"It's not a smart decision to do that yet," the coach said. "But it's all positive with him."

Mikheyev, who turns 29 the day before the Canucks open the 2023-24 season, appeared in 46 games last season. In four NHL seasons, his career-high for games played is 54 with Toronto in 2020-21.

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