Vancouver Canucks defenceman Sami Salo and forward Alexandre Burrows will open the 2010-11 season on injured reserve.

Salo suffered a torn Achilles tendon this summer during a training session and is not expected to be back in the lineup until at least January.

In an interview with TSN's Farhan Lalji, General Manager Mike Gillis described Salo's injury as "severe" and said it is a four-to-six month recovery period from the time of surgery which took place at the beginning of August.

Burrows, who suffered a torn shoulder labrum in last season's playoffs, is expected to miss the opening month of the regular season.

The injuries to Burrows and Salo will save the Canucks approximately $5.5 USD million in salary cap space to start the season. Despite missing two key veterans this is welcome news to the Canucks in cap relief as the team is currently $3.1 million over the cap at $62.5 million.

Prior to Salo's injury, the Canucks were exploring options on what to do with nine NHL ready defenceman, six of which make more than $3 million per season. There was ample speculation that Kevin Bieksa's name was being thrown around as a possible trade option to try and get the team under the cap.

Gillis says given the current injuries the Canucks are happy going into camp with eight defenceman.

With files from TSN's Farhan Lalji