Jake DeBrusk won’t be in the Vancouver Canucks lineup Saturday night, with illness keeping the left winger out against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena.
Head coach Manny Malhotra said DeBrusk arrived feeling sick and was sent home to recover, leaving Vancouver short a regular as it faces a Flames team expected to be near the bottom of the Western Conference.
The 29-year-old had played in each of the Canucks’ first two games, picking up one assist in the team’s 6-5 win and 9-7 loss to the Edmonton Oilers to open the 2026-27 season.
DeBrusk remains part of a Canucks roster in the middle of a full rebuild. There had been reports of him seeking other options this season, but Vancouver kept him in place for the third year of his seven-year, $38.5 million contract, which carries a $5.5 million average annual value through the 2030-31 season.
Last season, DeBrusk appeared in 81 games and finished with 23 goals and 19 assists for 42 points as Vancouver ended up last in the NHL and landed a top-three draft pick, using it to select Caleb Malhotra. The year before that, he played all 82 games, so Saturday will be just the second regular-season game he has missed since signing with the Canucks on July 1, 2024.
His absence trims Vancouver’s already limited offense, though the club does have one encouraging sign up front: Elias Pettersson has opened with two goals and two assists in the first two games against Edmonton.
The Canucks will be right back at it Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights, finishing a three-game homestand before heading out for six straight road games against Eastern Conference teams.
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