With the Blackhawks having fallen well out of the playoff picture, this would have been a good time for midseason acquisition Anthony Duclair to get some extra playing time. However, the winger has been out of the lineup since March 10th with a lower-body injury and NHL.com’s Tracey Myers relays (Twitter link) that he is not close to resuming skating yet. Accordingly, it appears he may not be able to get back into the lineup this season. Duclair got off to a decent start after being acquired from Arizona but has just two goals in 23 games with Chicago. Now, with this injury and his struggles, he will be hard-pressed to command much of a raise on the $1.2MM he’s earning this season even though he is eligible for salary arbitration.
More from the Central:
- Avalanche defenseman Duncan Siemens has failed to live up to his draft hype and as a result, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post speculates that Colorado may consider not tendering him a qualifying offer this summer. The former 11th overall pick back in 2011 has spent the bulk of this season at the AHL level but has played a somewhat regular, albeit limited role over the past month with the NHL club. While they could choose to try to keep him around as depth for next year, Chambers wonders if they may be more inclined to give Conor Timmins, their second-round pick last June (32nd overall), a look instead.
- Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko did not skate with the team today which has led head coach Mike Yeo to tell reporters, including Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that their top goalscorer is doubtful to play on Wednesday against Boston. The 26-year-old is currently dealing with an upper-body injury. Goaltender Carter Hutton still isn’t ready to rejoin the team either although he did skate before practice with Yeo stating that he is getting closer to returning.