While Coyotes forward Clayton Keller won’t be ready to play at the start of the preseason, he told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that he expects to be ready for Arizona’s season opener on October 13th. The 24-year-old was well on his way to a career year last season with 63 points in 65 games but at the end of March, he fractured his leg which ended his campaign prematurely. The original timetable for a return after surgery was four-to-six months and it appears this recovery will be on the long end with Keller likely to have a reduced workload in their exhibition games if he’s able to get into the lineup at all.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Kings center Alex Turcotte is on the roster for their rookie tournament but AHL Ontario head coach Marco Sturm told reporters, including Andrew Knoll of the Los Angeles Daily News, that Turcotte has not been cleared to participate yet. The 21-year-old sustained two concussions last season, the second of which came in the playoffs. Evidently, the symptoms from that one are still lingering which could have his ability for the start of training camp next week in question.
- Jets forward Cole Perfetti has been cleared to participate in Winnipeg’s rookie tournament contests after dealing with multiple injuries last season, relays Postmedia’s Scott Billeck. The 20-year-old got into 18 games with Winnipeg in his rookie year and acquitted himself well with seven points while averaging over 14 minutes per game. Perfetti suffered a shoulder injury back in February and while rehabbing it, he re-aggravated a back injury that needed several months to heal. He’ll use this event as a tune-up for training camp.
Too bad about Turcotte. His career has had a slow start so far.