NHL Injury Roundup
We are two days away from the 2021-22 NHL season. We’ve seen many of the league’s finest get back into the swing of things during the preseason matches over the last two weeks. While most of them will be on the ice for their teams’ season opener, there are some big names on the injury report we won’t be seeing. Here’s a quick overview of who will be missing.
Eastern Conference
Tuukka Rask
Rask spent most of last season pushing through pain in his hip. This off season, he finally got surgery to fix it, which leaves a big question mark bove him. Will he even want to return to playing? He’s 34, a reasonable age to retire, should he want to. On the other hand, 34 is a decent playing age. Rask has been a solid goaltender for Boston for years, whether their fans like him or not. We won’t know his final decision for a few weeks, at least.
Jack Eichel
I won’t rehash what I’ve already said or what anyone else has said. Eichel is still in negotiations with Buffalo about his herniated disk surgery and where he could be traded to. Because he hasn’t even had the surgery yet, no one can say how long it will be before he’s back on the ice.
Jakub Vrana
Detroit picked up a great player in Jakub Vrana at the trade deadline last season, notching 11 points in 11 games. Within 10 minutes of preseason, he exited the ice with a shoulder injury. The Wings haven’t given a timeline for his return, but they did announce he’ll need to see a specialist. I loved Vrana on the Caps and wish him the best in his recovery and his role in Detroit.
Noel Acciarri
Acciari has become an integral part of the Panthers over the last couple years. Having him go down in a preseason game against the Lightning was the last things fans wanted. It seems that while trying to break up a scrum, he did something to his abdominal region. The team has not said specifically what it was, but Quenville called it a “freak, freak, freak thing. A very unusual injury,” and “not good.” No timeline has been announced as it is still unclear if the injury will require surgery.
Shea Weber
Unfortunately for Montreal, this may be the year we see Shea Weber retire. After years battling with injuries to his knee, ankle, and thumb, it seems that they have all caught up with him. Weber did not travel back to Montreal at the start of the preseason, nor has anyone given a guess about his return.
Kevin Hayes
Kevin Hayes had a brutal off-season. He knew going into it that he would have to undergo abdominal surgery. He didn’t know that sadly, he’d see the sudden, untimely passing of his older brother Jimmy. Even without the abdominal surgery, I’m sure no one would have minded Hayes taking a break to mourn the loss with his family. For both, I wish him the best.
Sidney Crosby
I’m sure Pittsburgh fans are relieved that Crosby’s trip to the IR was brought on by a wrist injury rather than another concussion. He had surgery on his wrist back in September and returned to light practice this week. According to the Penguins, Crosby is “on track” to return to full play around October 20th.
Evgeni Malkin
Unfortunately, the flip side of the injury coin for the Penguins is Evgeni Malkin. Malkin had surgery on his knee in June for an injury sustained in March. I’m no doctor, but I feel like waiting that long between injury and surgery would only make for a longer recovery period. And depending on how severe it was, I would wonder if it would ever return to normal. He’s expected to miss the first two months of the season.
Jake Guentzel
On a different note in Pittsburgh, Jake Guentzel was diagnosed last week with COVID19. As we’ve seen elsewhere, COVID has the potential to affect people beyond just the original illness. So they’ll have to watch him closely for any residual effects. In addition, they’ll want to keep him as far away from the team as possible so they don’t have a repeat of the spread the team saw last year.
Nicklas Backstrom
The Capitals have promoted Evgeny Kuznetsov to first line center this preseason, thanks to the temporary loss of Nick Backstrom. Backstrom had surgery on his left hip back in 2015 and says that the current injury is from the wear and tear on it. He will not have any further surgery on it, but does not have a timeline for his return.
Western Conference
Ben Bishop
The lack of Bishop is thanks to the hangover knee injury from the 2020 Bubble Playoffs. He was out all last season, as well. He is expected to miss at least the first half of the 2021-22 season. The Stars have Holtby and Khodobian to rely on for at least the first half of the season.
Zack Kassian
Never one to back down from a fight, Kassian engaged with fellow Zack, MacEwan of the Canucks the other day. After losing his helmet, he took a nasty fall, causing him to slam his head on the ice. Though the team seems optimistic that he avoided a concussion, he is still under protocol. As much as they want him to be okay, I think it’s prudent to bench him for a couple of weeks as insurance. After all that has come out about CTE in the last few years, it’s better to err on the side of caution in these situations.
Josh Archibald
As I said above, COVID can cause more damage long after it’s gone. Archibald contracted COVID during the off season. In direct correlation to the virus, he has been subsequently diagnosed with Myocarditis. Myocarditis is defined by the Mayoclinic as, “an inflammation of the heart muscle. . . can reduce your heart’s ability to pump and cause rapid or irregular heart rhythms.” The Oilers confirmed that Archibald was the only unvaccinated player on the team.
Tyler Motte
Key piece to the Canucks’ penalty kill Tyler Motte continues to be out, due to a hit sustained in April against the Maple Leafs. Vancouver has not disclosed the exact area of the injury, but rather described it as “upper body.” He is scheduled to be re-evaluated soon.
Alex Tuch
Though not linked with any one play in specific, Alex Tuch’s shoulder had caused him enough irritation and pain that he underwent surgery on it back in July. It’s a big loss for Vegas, as Tuch is a key part of the team and conservative guesses to his return site January as the earliest possible return.
Close Calls & Last Thoughts
Last week, many fans were worried that Ryan Reaves would miss the opening fight against Tom Wilson on October 13 due to a dubious play by PK Subban the other day. Right now, he’s listed as day-to-day. Reaves himself believes he’ll be ready for Wednesday, but Gallant didn’t hazard a statement.
There are many names here that are disappointing. I don’t like the Penguins, admittedly, but I know fans are upset that neither Crosby or Malkin will be able to get their team off on the right foot. I’m not thrilled about Backstrom being out. But at the end of the day, without players taking this time to properly heal, the game overall would suffer. Player safety has to come first if the league wants to continue. So everybody take a deep breath and remember that.
Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)
-Heidi Thomas (@DamselOnDrums)
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