It’s been a rough week for injuries across the NHL.
Claude Giroux Jordan Staal Derek Stepan Pavel Datsyuk All injured in the first week of training camp. Any other big names we’re missing?
— SB Nation NHL (@SBNationNHL) September 24, 2014
The Los Angeles Kings, so far, have come out of training camp relatively unscathed. That doesn’t mean there aren’t injury concerns, though. Here are five players we’re keeping an eye on:
Jonathan Quick
No news is good news, I suppose. Quick’s recovery from wrist surgery continues, and Darryl Sutter thinks he’ll be able to get two full games’ worth of preseason action. It feels a little too similar to the start of 2013 for my taste, as Quick struggled in his return from offseason surgery, but no one seems concerned. Quick, meanwhile, was typically quiet about his injury status. From Elliott Teaford‘s story:
“Obviously, with the wrist there are some limitations right now. We’ll manage that as camp goes along.”
What are those limitations?
“We’re not going to get into that,” he said.
How was he injured?
“We’re not going to get into that,” he said.
Which wrist is it?
“We’re not going to get into that,” he said.
Classic!
Drew Doughty
Doughty skated at practice yesterday and today. Seems to be all good after an upper-body injury (suffered during off-season workouts) kept him out of the start of training camp, though he is expected to sit out tomorrow’s game against Anaheim.
Jarret Stoll
Ditto. Though Stoll’s hip injury was seemingly more serious than Doughty’s, he’s already back practicing and will definitely appear in at least one game later in the preseason. According to Lisa Dillman, he’s shooting for three preseason games.
Robyn Regehr
Regehr was the only casualty of Monday’s split-squad games, requiring stitches that held him out of the second period in Arizona. Direct consequence: Slava Voynov got a whopping 32 minutes of ice time, and Brayden McNabb ended up with 21 minutes of his own. He’ll be fine going forward, though Sutter was disappointed with the medical staff:
It’s preseason. Doctors are a little slow… Three stitches took almost the whole second period. That’s not a good thing if I’m going to the clinic.
Andrew Bodnarchuk
The 26-year-old captain of the Manchester Monarchs is not going to be on the Kings’ Opening Night roster barring an injury or two, but training camp would have been a chance for him to solidify his place in the Andrew Campbell “multiple people are hurt and I can fill in for a couple games” role. However, Bodnarchuk suffered a knee injury at Sunday’s practice and will be held out of the remainder of camp. Bodnarchuk hasn’t played an NHL game since a short stint with the Boston Bruins in April 2010.