Central Notes: Lundkvist, Beauvillier, Raddysh

After leaving last night’s game against the Nashville Predators with a reported upper-body injury, it appears Dallas Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist could miss Saturday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers as well. Speaking about the injury this morning, Bruce LeVine of 96.7 The Ticket reported that Lundkvist is experiencing concussion-like symptoms and the team would know more about his status tomorrow.

If Lundkvist is set to miss a significant amount of time with a concussion, it may motivate Stars General Manager Jim Nill to make a move for a defenseman well before the trade deadline, as the team has reportedly been sniffing around the defensive market. Including a few minutes in last night’s game, Lundkvist has registered two goals and 15 points in 43 games for Dallas this season while averaging just over 15 minutes of ice time per game.

With Joel Hanley being the likely candidate to fill in for Lundkvist, the Stars will likely find more pressure on themselves to round out their defensive core. Although the top unit of Thomas Harley and Miro Heiskanen has played well for the team up to this point in the season, a right-handed shot defenseman to put next to Esa Lindell should become the team’s top priority over the next three weeks.

Other Central notes:

• Now that forward Connor Bedard has returned to the Chicago Blackhawks after missing time with a broken jaw, Tracey Myers of the NHL suggests the team could see the return of another forward very soon. Since joining the Blackhawks via a trade on November 28th, Anthony Beauvillier has only managed 15 games for the team, suffering a left wrist injury on January 2nd against the Nashville Predators. In the report, Myers mentions that Beauvillier was a full participant in today’s practice, indicating that Beauvillier could return tomorrow or Monday.
• It is not all positive news on the injury front for Chicago; however, as Myers also reported that forward Taylor Raddysh missed today’s practice with an injury to his right quad. Managing a 20-goal campaign as recently as last year for the Blackhawks, Raddysh’s offensive output has certainly stagnated this season, only registering five goals and 11 points in 49 games up to this point.