Jake DeBrusk Ruled Out With Illness as Canucks Look to Bounce Back Against Flames

The Vancouver Canucks will be down a key forward tonight, as Jake DeBrusk has been ruled out against the Calgary Flames due to an illness. Daily Faceoff broke the news, confirming the left winger will be watching this one from the couch.

Missing a game with a bug is the NHL equivalent of a sick day, except instead of dodging a staff meeting, DeBrusk is missing a prime opportunity to feast on a reeling Calgary squad.

"Daily Faceoff reported the illness."

The Flames are limping into Vancouver after getting absolutely dismantled 6-1 by the Seattle Kraken. If there was ever a night for a top-six forward to pad the stat sheet, this was it.

But let us be honest, the Canucks have bigger issues to sort out than a missing winger. Vancouver is coming off a completely unhinged 9-7 loss to the Edmonton Oilers just two days ago.

Giving up nine goals in a regulation hockey game is not a defensive lapse. That is a full-scale structural collapse. It sounds more like a beer league softball score than a professional hockey result.

For the betting crowd and fantasy managers, DeBrusk scratching means a sudden scramble to adjust lineups. Someone else in the Vancouver rotation is going to get a bump in ice time against a very vulnerable Calgary defense.

DeBrusk gets to rest up and hydrate while his teammates try to remember how to play defense. The Canucks host the Vegas Golden Knights next, and they will desperately need him back on the ice for that one.