Injury Notes: Hertl, Sharp, Bortuzzo
Tomas Hertl has flown back to San Jose to undergo an MRI on his knee, according to Kevin Kurz of CSN. The Sharks forward injured himself in the second period last night, leaving the game and not returning. While the extent of the injury is unknown, “waiting for MRI results” has not been a nice feeling for fans around the league of late; both Steven Stamkos and Taylor Hall received terrible news following trips home for examination.
If Hertl is to miss any length of time, it would adversely affect a Sharks squad that is already having trouble scoring goals. With 39 goals scored, they rank ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference. While the team is still carrying a positive 9-8-0 record through the first 17 games, losing one of their top scoring threats would be devastating.
- Patrick Sharp is set to make his return to the lineup Saturday night for the Dallas Stars. The veteran sniper has missed the last fourteen games with a concussion suffered on a hit from Brayden McNabb in October. The consistent scoring threat is coming off his eighth 20-goal season, and hoping to reach that mark again in what is a contract year for the 34-year old. Sharp is earning $5.9MM this season in the final year of a five-year, $29.5MM deal signed way back in 2011. Even at his advanced age he’s likely to be looking for a multi-year contract to end his career.
- The Blues are starting to get healthier, as Robert Bortuzzo will be returning this weekend as well. The defenseman has missed the past ten games with a lower-body injury, though it’s not a guarantee that he’ll crack the lineup right away. As Ken Hitchcock points out “The one challenge for us is we’re carrying lefty-righty right now and it’s working, so that’s something we’ve got to think about also.” With Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk ahead of him, Bortuzzo would have to beat out Colton Parayko to skate on the right side, which is much easier said than done the way the 23-year old has established himself this season.
Central Notes: Iginla, Blackhawks, Bortuzzo
Last season, Colorado right winger Jarome Iginla was insistent that he would not waive his no-trade clause under any circumstances. When Adrian Dater of Bleacher Report asked Iginla whether he’d be willing to do so this year, he gave a noncommittal answer while stopping short of saying an unequivocal no:
“I’m really not thinking about that. It’s too soon in the season.”
The Avalanche are currently in a playoff position but have a sub-.500 record at 7-8-0 through 15 games. If they start to fall out of the race as the season progresses, it’s likely that they will become sellers and Iginla as a rental player will be towards the top of the list for several contending teams. For his part, Iginla remains confident that the Avs can make it to the postseason this year:
“I want to play in the playoffs. I think it will be here, that we have the ability to get there.”
Iginla is off to a slow start this season with just two goals and an assist while he has been dropped to the bottom six in recent weeks. Despite that, his style of play is suited to postseason hockey while he has a track record of success in the playoffs. However, with a cap hit of $5.3MM, there may not be many teams that will be able to afford him on their cap come the trade deadline.
Iginla is no stranger to being a rental player after he was shipped to Pittsburgh back in 2013. Back then, the Penguins were believed to be the only team he’d waive his no-trade clause for. Will we see another situation like this in a few months? It’s still too early to tell but the possibility seems a bit more realistic than it did before.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- The Blackhawks’ exhaustive search for a top line winger continues with no end in sight, writes Mark Lazarus of the Chicago Sun-Times. Since the beginning of last season, no fewer than 12 different left wingers have been tried with Jonathan Toews. Head coach Joel Quenneville acknowledged that they’re still looking for the right fit but considering that six different wingers have already been tried this season, they’re starting to run out of internal options in a hurry. In the meantime, they’ll likely keep rotating the players they’ve already tried in the hopes of finding some short-term chemistry. Given their cap situation (less than $50K of space per CapFriendly), going outside of the organization to find a new option doesn’t seem like a likely scenario at the moment.
- Louis defenseman Robert Bortuzzo could make his return to the lineup tonight, report Jeremy Rutherford and Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He has missed the last eight games with a lower body injury and participated in his first full practice yesterday. The team is hoping that Bortuzzo, who has played in just four games so far this season, will get the green light from team doctors later today and then will decide on whether or not to insert him into the lineup at that time.
Central Notes: Edmundson, Motte, Mitchell
St. Louis defenseman Joel Edmundson will be out for an ‘extended’ period of time as a result of an upper-body injury sustained on Sunday against Colorado, writes Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The team announced that he has been placed on injured reserve and will be re-evaluated in three weeks.
The 23 year old is in his second season with the team and has played in all 13 of their games this season, primarily on the third defense pairing. He has an assist, 17 penalty minutes, and 23 hits so far this year.
Still with the Blues, Timmermann adds that blueliner Robert Bortuzzo is being re-evaluated today as he continues his recovery from a lower body injury from last October.
The team has recalled defenseman Petteri Lindbohm from AHL Peoria to take Edmundson’s spot on the roster. He has played in five games in the minors so far this season and has seen time with the Blues in each of the last two years. St. Louis also assigned right winger Ty Rattie to Peoria on a conditioning stint. He has played in just one game so far this season, being a healthy scratch the rest of the year.
[Related: Blues Depth Chart]
Other news out of the Central:
- Blackhawks left winger Tyler Motte left Sunday’s game against Dallas with what looked to be a leg injury. Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune reports that the issue isn’t believed to be serious but head coach Joel Quenneville stated postgame that he may miss some time. Motte, a 21 year old rookie, is off to a good start with Chicago so far this season, picking up three goals and three assists in his first 13 games while averaging 12:37 per game.
- Despite clearing waivers over the weekend, Colorado center John Mitchell remains with the team and even played in both games, notes Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. GM Joe Sakic told Chambers that the team intends to keep Mitchell and his $1.8MM cap hit for the foreseeable future. If Mitchell remains with the team for 30 days or plays in 10 games since clearing, he would have to be waived again if they wanted to send him down later on.