The Senators will be without center Zack Smith for the next three weeks as a result of a dislocated thumb, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports (Twitter link). The injury was sustained on Friday against Colorado in the first of their two games in Sweden.
This will mark the second time this season already that he has been out of the lineup after Smith missed three games back in October due to an upper-body injury. He had played on Ottawa’s new-look top line on Friday alongside recent acquisition Matt Duchene and winger Mike Hoffman but that line will have to change for a few weeks yet. Smith has played in a dozen games with the Sens this season and while he has yet to score, he has collected six assists along with 11 penalty minutes.
As a result of the injury, Nick Paul is set to make his season debut after being recalled earlier in the week. It was recently noted that teams have been calling about his potential availability so it will certainly be interesting to see how he is deployed.
While their winger depth is weakened for the time being, they should get some good news in the near future as winger Bobby Ryan is expected to return within the next week or so and he could be a candidate to skate in Smith’s spot alongside Duchene and Hoffman when he gets the green light to return.
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