Rick Tocchet updates on Ilya Mikheyev: He's back with the team
Ilya Mikheyev hasn't taken part in a Canucks game since January 27th due to an injury and he's just about to get back to it. It was announced earlier this week that he had left for personal reasons, but it was confirmed that Mikheyev was back with the team yesterday.
Still not yet fully recovered, the Canucks' number 65 arbored the same jersey colour as Nils Hoglander, Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko. The forward did not, however, take part in any line drills or contact drills. The team's head coach Rick Tocchet was interviewed last night and gave an update on Mikheyev's status:
�'Rick Tocchet says Ilya Mikheyev did really well on his skating test. Described his timeline as "day-to-day, or a week. I'm not quite sure yet."
Mikheyev was important contributor to the team's top line but also to the team's PK. We're just a little over two weeks away from opening night and Tocchet seems to be hopeful that he'll be a full time participant before then.
Still under contract for three more seasons, Mikheyev carries a $4.75M cap hit. The Russian winger scored 28 points in 46 games last year. The chemistry he had with Pettey and Kuzmenko made them one of the most lethal 5-on-5 line in the league, in better shape, can they be as dominant this year?
POLL |
Will the IM65-EP40-AK96 line be as dominant this year? |
Yes | 231 | 73.1 % |
No | 41 | 13 % |
I want Hoglander to play on that line | 44 | 13.9 % |
List of polls |
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Previously on CanucksDaily