Vancouver Canucks suffer major blow as veteran blue liner ruled out long-term

Wednesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins was a thriller for the Vancouver Canucks, as the team attempted to come back from 5-1 down to pick up a much-needed win.

Unfortunately, that comeback fell short, and while fans may have been excited by their attempt, they are now dealing with a fresh issue, as the team has now lost a key piece of their blue line.

According to reports, Filip Hronek, who left the game during the third period of the loss will be out for a long time as he reportedly deals with an upper-body injury.

It's unclear exactly what the injury is at this point, but you can see in the video below that as he is bumped into the boards, he gets up favoring the upper part of his arm, which could be a brutal injury.

In 21 games for Vancouver this season, Hronek has one assist and 9 points, all while carrying a +14 differential, and with the team struggling on the right side beyond the top line, this is a brutal loss indeed.

This season, Vancouver ranks 22nd in the NHL in goals per game allowed with 3.14, so a loss of a 400-game veteran could threaten to derail the season, with no obvious candidates to make the same impact he does alongside Quinn Hughes.

For now, though, the team will have to do without him for a while, with an update likely to come on his status soon, but with Stanley Cup expectations in 2024/25, there's no doubt that the team will be able to find a way to overcome this as they look to find the momentum that made them one of the NHL's best teams a season ago.