Eberle left Tuesday’s preseason game with a shoulder injury and was seen wearing a sling after the game. This afternoon the Oilers announced that their star winger will miss at least the first three weeks of the regular season with a shoulder injury. His injury means that Anton Slepyshev will probably start the season with the Oilers and Leon Draisaitl could start in the top-6.
Eberle left the game after taking a hit into the end boards and departed the ice immediately. Eberle was reportedly spotted wearing a sling after the game which isn’t an encouraging sign. The Oilers have yet to disclose the exact nature or severity of the injury, so stay tuned.
Campbell, 27, had one assist in 33 games with the Coyotes last season. He was a third round pick (74th overall) in 2008 and plays a physical game, but doesn’t have much of and offensive game to speak of.
Halak is going to be held off of the ice for a few days but should be ready for the season opener. The Islanders open the season with a back-to-back, so he probably wasn’t going to play both games on opening weekend anyways.
Bernier was going to have an uphill battle to crack the Islanders lineup anyways, but now he is expected to miss at least the first week of the season.
Hickey will miss the first three weeks of the regular season, which means that Brian Strait will likely get into the lineup for the first 10 games of the season. Look for Hickey to return at the end of October, early-November.
Fontaine appeared to suffer an injury on a knee-on-knee collision with David Clarkson last week. Originally the Wild didn’t believe the injury was serious, but now he is expected to miss the season opener and could miss a few weeks.
Seabrook, 30, was drafted 14th overall in 2003 and is now signed through the 2023-24 season. The 6-foot-3, 218 lbs. defensemen is on of the steadiest blueliners in the NHL. He has only missed 10 games over the last nine seasons and has averaged eight goals and 27 assists (35 points) per 82 games throughout his career.
Raymond was reportedly injured while blocking a shot in Saturday’s preseason game in Vancouver. Raymond did not participate in Flames’ practice on Monday, but was able to skate by himself after the session. His status for the Flames’ season opener is unclear.
Chara suffered an upper-body injury last Thursday, but returned to the ice this morning. He was unable to join his team for full practice, but he did skate by himself which is an encouraging sign for Bruins’ fans and Chara owners. He is progressing towards and appearance in the Bruins’ season opener, but continue to monitor his status throughout the next week.
Gorges injury is not related to the knee he had surgery on, which is good news for the veteran defenseman, however the injury could still force him to miss regular season time. Gorges joins Zach Bogosian as injured Sabres’ defensemen who could miss the season opener. Those are both big losses for a young Buffalo team. Cody Franson and Rasmus Ristolainen will likely be leaned on to shoulder the load while Gorges and Bogosian recover.
Bogosian has had an incredibly difficult time staying healthy throughout his career. He missed 20 games last season and a combined 96 games over the last three seasons. He played massive minutes (26:34 TOI/GM) with the Sabres last year and is expected to be leaned o heavily this year. His absence means the Sabres will lead to increased roles for the likes of Rasmus Ristolainen and Cody Franson.
Ristolainen missed the start of camp because of an upper-body injury, but participated in practice on Monday and will play on Tuesday. The 20-year-old blueliner had 20 points (8G / 12A) in 78 games with the Sabres last year. He will be a key member of Buffalo’s backend this season and for many years to come.
In his first season in Tampa Bay, Stralman averaged 2:28 PP/TOI per game, which was way up from the 0:45 PP/TOI he averaged in three years with New York—the increased playing time resulted in 14 PPP (2G / 12A) after he had just four PPP in the previous three seasons. Stralman is once again working with the first PP-unit to start the 2015-16 season, so it looks like the Lightning plan to use him in the same way as last year. He had a career high 39 points (9G / 30A) a season ago.
Poulin, 25, spent the last four years with the Islanders organization after being drafted by them in the fifth round of the 2008 Entry Draft. During that span, Poulin was 18-25-3 with a 3.07 GAA and .899 SV% at the NHL level. Claiming him and cutting Ray Emery likely puts Poulin in as Ben Bishop’s backup to start the season while Andrei Vasilevskiy recovers from a blood clot.
Boyes, 33, spent the last two seasons in Florida, where he collected 35 goals and 39 assists (74 points) in 156 games. Boyes was one of a few players who were brought into Maple Leafs training camp on PTO’s but was the only one to receive a contract. Boyes will battle with Michael Grabner, P.A Parenteau and Richard Panik for playing time in the Leafs’ top six.
The Bruins blueline is starting to fall apart before the season even arrives. It was already looking relatively thin after the Dougie Hamilton trade, but then Dennis Seidenberg had back surgery and Chara has gone down. There is no word on the severity of Chara’s injury, but the Bruins can not afford to lose their big defenseman for any period of time.
Datsyuk is still recovering after undergoing offseason ankle surgery. He met with his doctor on Thursday who gave him the green light to resume skating next week. Datsyuk will miss the start of the regular season, but should be back by early November.
Zuccarello will play in his first game since April 24th after suffering a skull fracture. Zuccarello had 15 goals and 34 assists (49 points) in 78 games and two assists in five playoff games before he suffered the injury. The 28-year-0ld has been a consistent point producer over the last two seasons and should approach 50 points again this season.
Franzen has been out since January 6th because of concussion issues. Franzen said he never considered retirement and he is excited to get back on the ice tonight. When he is healthy, Franzen is a quality goal scorer, but he is a huge injury risk heading into the 2015-16 fantasy season.
