Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Bobby Ryan, Tommy Wingels injury updates
Wingels looks to be the only one back soon
With many Senators players leaving games early over the weekend, we all knew updates were coming. Although it doesn’t appear to be the darkest timeline, the news was far from positive:
Boucher confirms Bobby Ryan has a broken finger. 4-6 weeks. Stone is injured (Neck). Hoffman out with groin injury. Wingels is questionable
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) February 21, 2017
First off, Bobby Ryan’s finger won’t require surgery, but will keep him out 4-6 weeks. Although people love to point out that he isn’t living up to his contract, Ottawa’s RW depth is razor-thin. With Mark Stone also out, this leaves Chris Neil as the lone NHL player whose NHL.com-listed position is RW. It likely means a couple of Tom Pyatt (LW), Curtis Lazar (C), or Zack Smith (C/LW) will be playing on the right side.
Secondly, the good news on the Mark Stone front is that he does not have a concussion. He suffered one during training camp, so Sens fans were holding their collective breath in the hopes that he wouldn’t have a second one so soon after the first. A neck injury should be less likely to plague him in the future. No timetable was given for his return. What is interesting is that the Department of Player Safety listed “no apparent injury” to Stone as a prime reason for giving Jacob Trouba only a two-game suspension.
For Mike Hoffman, no timeline was given either. Groin injuries are tough to gauge because they can vary so much in severity. Likely the team is still pursuing medical opinions, and will give an update when possible. For now, none of Stone, Ryan, or Hoffman will play in tonight’s game against the Devils.
Tommy Wingels also left Sunday’s game against the Jets with an undisclosed injury, but looks to be in tonight’s lineup. He will be a game-time decision, but Guy Boucher seemed optimistic he would play. He did participate in the morning practice. Dion Phaneuf missed practice, but it was just a maintenance day and he will play tonight as well.