The Vancouver Canucks had a couple of disheartening injuries in a disheartening loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. In the first period the team lost recently acquired center Markus Granlund to an upper-body injury. Not too much later they lost Luca Sbisa after he took a hit from Adam Lowry that left him holding his arm a bit gingerly.
After the game coach Willie Desjardins wasn’t able to provide an update on either skater. All he could offer was that he doesn’t expect them back “anytime soon.”
Sbisa’s absence sets the stage for the NHL debut of Nikita Tryamkin on Wednesday, according to Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province. The 6-foot-8 defender was given leave from Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg at the end of the KHL season to sign his entry-level deal with Vancouver. The 21-year-old scored four goals and 11 points this season for Avtomobilist.
He’s considered to be a good puck mover, a hard worker and a solid skater for a kid that’s got a huge frame and weighs 240 pounds.
While the Canucks season may be at an end, the debut of Tryamkin adds a little excitement to a lackluster few weeks of hockey in Vancouver.
Jared McCann will likely move into the center slot vacated by Granlund.
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