The Vancouver Canucks will be without star sniper Brock Boeser for at least one game.

The 27-year-old right winger was injured Thursday when he was hit in the head by Los Angeles Kings forward Tanner Jeannot in the neutral zone.

Boeser was not on the ice when the Canucks (7-2-3) took morning skate before Saturday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers (6-7-1).

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said the forward is being evaluated for an “upper body injury.”

Head coach Rick Tocchet said he spoke briefly with Boeser Saturday morning.

“He’s not feeling well, but I wouldn’t say it’s horrible. So I think right now he’s indefinite,” Tocchet said. “We’ll see. These things, they change in a week or in 24 hours, I don’t know.”

Boeser had just played the puck when he was tied midway through the first period of Vancouver’s 4-2 win over Los Angeles on Thursday.

He did not seem to see Jeannot arriving and spent several moments on the ice before getting up and leaving alone. He did not return to the game.

Jeannot received a match penalty for that play, then was handed a three-game suspension by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Friday.

“I mean, it’s dangerous. It’s a dangerous game. And I hope Brock is OK,” Tocchet said of the hit.

Boeser’s absence leaves a big hole in Vancouver’s lineup as the Canucks begin a six-game homestand.

The six-foot-one, 208-pound native of Burnsville, Minn., has 11 points in 12 games this year and leads the team in goals with six.

Last season, Boeser set career highs in goals (40) and points (73), and was Vancouver’s leading scorer in the playoffs before a blood clot forced him to miss the seventh game of a second round series against the Oilers.

“Obviously, anytime he’s not here…you definitely feel it,” Vancouver winger Jake DeBrusk said. “And it takes the next man up mentality. Guys have different opportunities, different looks and that’s kind of what hockey is.

“So it’s one of those things where we can’t do exactly what he can do, but at the same time, we try.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 9, 2024.