Pacific Notes: Quick Update, Brouwer, Despres, Sharks
Los Angeles GM Dean Lombardi provided a brief update on Jonathan Quick’s injury situation on Friday. At this time, Quick and the team are still consulting with doctors with regards to the best way to proceed, reports Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. Lombardi is hoping a decision in that area is made sooner than later and at that time, the team will know more about how long he’ll be out instead of the current week-to-week designation.
A few years ago, Quick suffered a groin strain that caused him to miss two months of action. While Lombardi didn’t specify that this is another groin issue, he did indicate that the injury is in the “same area”.
In the meantime, Jeff Zatkoff will take over as the interim starter and will get the nod tonight in their home opener against Philadelphia. Veteran Peter Budaj will serve as the backup.
More news and notes from the Pacific Division:
- While he has been with Calgary for all of one game since joining the team in July, Flames right winger Troy Brouwer has been a vocal presence both on and off the ice, notes Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun. Accordingly, the team has named him one of their alternate captains, making him just one of four players to wear a letter after changing teams in the offseason. Brouwer had a strong debut with Calgary, picking up a goal while playing just over 16 minutes.
- Anaheim defenseman Simon Despres may be dealing with another concussion, notes Eric Stephens of the OC Register via Twitter. Speaking with reporters regarding the Rickard Rakell contract, GM Bob Murray noted the plan is to have Despres meet specialists and that something is wrong that they need to get to the bottom of. He added that this latest problem was not the result of a hit or a fall.
- The San Jose Sharks have assigned top prospect Timo Meier to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, the team announced. He has been dealing with mononucleosis and is still likely a little while away from returning to game action. Last season, he had 34 goals and 53 assists in 52 games in the QMJHL. The Sharks recalled right winger Dan Carpenter from their farm team. Carpenter led the Barracuda in scoring last season with 55 points in 66 games and got into one game with the big club.
Jonathan Quick Out Indefintely
Update (8:00pm): Kings GM Dean Lombardi announced this evening that the team has placed Quick on injured reserve (Twitter link). In a related move, the club has called up veteran goalie Peter Budaj from Ontario of the AHL. Budaj, 34, brings 297 regular season games of NHL experience to the table and has shown to be a competent backup. It appears as if the Kings will have to rely on the duo of Zatkoff and Budaj indefinitely until Quick returns.
(9:17am): Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick sustained a lower body injury late in the first period of their 2-1 loss to San Jose on Wednesday night. While there is no immediate timetable for his return, Lisa Dillman of the LA Times notes that GM Dean Lombardi believes the injury may keep him out for a while. Quick will undergo an MRI later today to determine the extent of the problem. In the meantime, he has been placed on injured reserve and the team is saying he will be out week-to-week.
In the meantime, offseason acquisition Jeff Zatkoff – who replaced Quick to start the second period last night – will take over as the interim starter. However, his NHL experience is limited to just 34 regular season appearances coming into the season while he has yet to appear in more than 20 contests in any single NHL campaign. As a result, he is more suited to backup duty than a starting workload.
The Kings have a couple of options in their system to recall in the meantime. Veteran Peter Budaj is the most likely to be recalled while former Dallas first rounder Jack Campbell is also under contract but has yet to have much success at the minor league level.
[Related: Kings Depth Chart]
The team has a bit of cap space to work with should they want to go outside the organization to supplement their goaltending depth while Quick is on the shelf. The team has a little more than $2.1MM in cap space per Cap Friendly and also have Marian Gaborik eligible for LTIR if the team needs to open up some more room although that would only be a short-term solution.
*Glen Miller contributed to this post.