The Vancouver Canucks have brought Zack MacEwen back to the NHL.
The 6-3 rookie forward was recalled from the Utica Comets roughly 12 hours after the Canucks lost Micheal Ferland to an undisclosed “upper body injury.”
It wasn’t clear when Ferland was injured during Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he only skated one shift in the second period before leaving the bench with athletic therapist Jon Sanderson.
After a lightly-attended Wednesday practice, Canucks coach Travis Green said Ferland is not dealing with a new concussion but was meeting with doctors.
Green didn’t reply directly to a question about whether Ferland had suffered a head injury during the game at Rogers Arena, but he emphasized the winger is “not in (concussion) protocol.”
It was Ferland’s second game back after missing 17 games with a concussion suffered at the end of October during a fight with the Los Angeles Kings’ Kyle Clifford.
MacEwen has played seven games with Vancouver this season. He scored his first NHL goal and also has an assist. He was assigned Saturday to the Utica Comets, the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, to make room on the roster for Ferland, who had been on the team’s injured reserve list while recovering from his concussion.
MacEwen has also appeared in 14 games for the Comets and has scored three goals and added six assists.
LISTEN: In this week’s White Towel podcast, beat writer Ben Kuzma and columnist Ed Willes join Paul Chapman to discuss the Canucks “microcore” and the challenges they face going into the rest of the season. The group also looks at the job Jim Benning has done, the increased social media presence of owner Francesco Aquilini and whether that places any extra burden on Benning, as well as the dilemma of what to do with the goaltending situation looking ahead to the off-season. The podcast finishes off with a look back at the 1982 Canucks team that caught fire and rode it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast from your mobile device:
via Apple podcasts | via TuneIn | via Spotify | via Stitcher
Is the player not working? Click here.
He may be in Thursday’s lineup when the Canucks host the Carolina Hurricanes, or he could be a healthy scratch, which would allow for Loui Eriksson to return to the lineup. Or neither could play and the Canucks could finally activate Brandon Sutter from long-term injury reserve.
Sutter, who has been dealing with a groin strain, said Wednesday he felt more sore than he expected before Tuesday’s morning skate and was ruled out from making his return against the Maple Leafs. But he remained upbeat about the chances of playing against the Hurricanes.
If Sutter is activated off the LTIR, either Ferland or Alex Edler — who will be re-evaluated for an upper-body injury next week — will have to be placed on LTIR, or both Tyler Motte and Tyler Graovac will have to land on LTIR.
Motte has been out for six weeks with a broken bone in his foot, while Graovac was spotted using a walking boot and mobility scooter during the weekend.
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email [email protected]
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
