The Kraken have been without Justin Schultz for the last week and it appears they’ll be missing him a little longer as team reporter Bob Condor mentions that the defenseman is now listed as being out week to week. Schultz has done well in his first season with Seattle, notching 24 points in 42 games so far, already surpassing his point total from a year ago in 32 fewer contests. With the All-Star break upcoming, it appears the earliest he’ll be able to return is February 5th. For the time being, the team is keeping Schultz on the active roster. If they need to open up a roster spot, they’ll be able to place him on injured reserve retroactively to the date of injury which means he could be activated at any time.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo could return at some point on their current road trip, relays NHL.com’s Lou Korac (Twitter link). The veteran has missed the last two-and-a-half weeks with a lower-body injury sustained against Montreal. Bortuzzo doesn’t produce much offensively – he has just one point in 30 games this season – but is still a serviceable stay-at-home option on their third pairing. Louis has an open roster spot at the moment so whenever he is eligible to be activated, they won’t need to make room for him.
- Penguins winger Kasperi Kapanen returned to practice today in a non-contact jersey, notes Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He has been out for the last week with an undisclosed injury and while the 26-year-old declined to go into specifics, he did call it “something that I didn’t expect to turn into something bigger”. Kapanen had been scuffling a bit offensively before the injury, notching just a single goal in his last 19 games but he still has 17 points in 35 appearances this season despite logging less than 12 minutes a night.
R. Bortuzzo is my sleeper pick to be dealt to the Sabres.
Buffalo needs depth on D, especially at RHD. They have all kinds of scoring in BUF; primary, secondary, and D-scoring. They have an extremely young “core” on D, and will benefit from another M. Samuelsson style player. Stay at home and be defensively stout and allow your mate (O. Power) to join the rush as a 4th F.
The fact that he’s lifted the Cup is important; not to be downplayed on this team. They have a huge amount of very young talent, and they would benefit from the vet voice.
The Blues, meanwhile, have a tight cap and 48 of 50 contract slots filled. They’ll need flexibility if they should find themselves in the playoff race. If they’re out of the race then a draft pick (BUF has 3 2nds) will be better value to them.