Injury Updates: Gardiner, Silfverberg, Farabee

Hurricanes defenseman Jake Gardiner was not on their training camp invite list that was released earlier today.  As Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer points out (Twitter link), the veteran is likely to land back on LTIR this season.  Gardiner spent all of 2021-22 on there after undergoing back and hip surgeries but GM Don Waddell had indicated this summer that the 32-year-old had recovered and was expected to be ready for the season so it appears there has been a setback of some sort.  Gardiner is entering the final year of his contract that carries a $4.05MM AAV and he’ll join newly-acquired winger Max Pacioretty as players heading for LTIR to start the season which means that they’ll have plenty of short-term wiggle room available from a cap perspective.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

• Typically, players aren’t activated off injured reserve in the days leading up to training camp but CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the Ducks activated winger Jakob Silfverberg from IR today. He was placed there back in early March with a blood clot in his leg which ended his season early but this activation suggests that he’ll be good to go for training camp.  Silfverberg had a run of six straight seasons with a point total between 39 and 43 but has slowed down the last couple of years and is coming off a 21-point performance last season in 53 games.
• It has been a tough stretch on the injury front for the Flyers with Sean Couturier out to start the season and Ryan Ellis not ready to return either. However, it appears they’ll have winger Joel Farabee available on opening night or soon after, notes Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now.  The 22-year-old underwent disc replacement surgery back in June with the procedure carrying a recovery period of three to four months so it appears he’s on track.  Farabee had 17 goals and 17 assists in 63 games last season and could be in line for a bigger role once he’s ready to return.