NHL: Surgery Forces Canucks' Kesler To the Sidelines Again

It’s becoming an all-too-familiar scenario for Vancouver Canucks center Ryan Kesler. Last year it was a hip labrum that needed repairs and made him miss the first five games of the season. This time it’s a shoulder labrum which limited him to three goals in the final 33 games of the regular season and forced the elite two-way forward to go under the knife again.

Kesler’s recovery time is pegged at six months, but it could be five if the rehab goes well. At minimum, he will be out for all of October; if there are any setbacks, it could stretch into late November or even early December. Kesler has shown before that he’s a quick healer, and his competitive nature will keep him pushing him to get back to the action, possibly earlier than what’s good for him.

The problem on the surface is that the more games a player is forced to miss, the tougher it becomes for him to get on track. With 49 points in 77 games, it was a down year for the Michigan native compared to the Selke-winning season the year before, when he tallied 41 goals and 73 points.

The deeper issues are more troubling. This is now the third surgery Kesler has needed in the past three seasons, and he’s 28. He’s already logged a lot of time on the ice and on the operating table.

There’s also the matter of how the club deals with this. The solution seemed ready-made when Cody Hodgson was still with the club. Now Hodgson is in Buffalo and the Canucks have a big hole to fill on their second line. Trading Kesler is a consideration, but what kind of magic could general manager Mike Gillis perform?

The current assets don’t seem to fit the bill. At 6 feet and 200 pounds, Sammy Pahlsson is the closest thing the Canucks have to a solution. However, Pahlsson is a defensive-minded center who the team acquired for the checking third line. Andrew Ebbett is undersized at 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, and he dosn’t exactly light up the scoreboard either.

The Canucks could shift one of their wingers to the middle, but which one? Alex Burrows is dealing with a concussion he picked up recently at the World Hockey Championships, and it’s unknown at this point just how much time he’ll miss. So who’s left? Mason Raymond? David Booth? Chris Higgins? Jannik Hansen?

This appears to be an opportunity Jordan Schroeder could take advantage of, but can he? Schroeder’s size (5-foot-9 and 175 pounds) has been an issue since the Canucks selected him 22nd overall after other teams passed on him becuase of his physical stature. He hasn’t had a look at the major-league level, and his scoring stats this season with the AHL Chicago Wolves (21 goals and 44 points in 76 games) don’t exactly scream “promote me!”

The Wolves don’t have much size at center, and only moderate skill: Kevin Doell (5-foot-11, 182 pounds), Taylor Matson (6 feet, 185 pounds), and veteran Steve Reinprecht (6 feet, 195 pounds) aren’t the answers for the big club. It shows how much of a gap there is to fill when they’re compared to the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Kesler.

There’s an outside chance that this situation won’t be much of a problem. The collective bargaining agreement will expire in the fall and another one can’t be ratified before Sept. 15, so the NHL could be facing a work stoppage. If dumb luck works out, maybe Kesler will be ready to play by the time the rest of the league is.