Calgary Flames’ Martin Pospisil leaves game vs. Maple Leafs early with upper-body injury

Credit: © Sergei Belski

The Calgary Flames have announced that center Martin Pospisil will not return to Thursday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs due to an upper-body injury.

.@MFradiology Injury Update: Martin Pospisil (upper-body) will not return. pic.twitter.com/ORNsMD0ZzC

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) January 19, 2024

Pospisil was injured late in the first period after he accidentally tripped on the skate of Auston Matthews while the Leafs sniper was in a turning motion, and the Flames rookie awkwardly collided into the boards. There’s no specifics for the timeline and for what the injury is, but Pospisil has had a history of concussions before.

Pospisil had two shots and a hit in 3:46 of ice-time, with the Flames up 2-1 at his time of departure.

The 24-year-old is having a solid rookie season with the Flames with 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points in 32 games. That puts him on pace for 28 points in a full season, which would actually be the most in his professional career.

This also comes despite the fact that Pospisil’s had some rough shooting luck to start his NHL career. Among all forwards with at least 350 minutes of 5v5 ice time, he has the 33rd-worst shooting percentage at 6.78%.

Pospisil also played 6 games for the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL this season, with 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points in his time there.

The Zloven, Slovakia product was a fourth-round pick for the Flames in the 2018 NHL Draft, and has spent the entirety of his five-season professional career in the Flames organization, making his NHL debut this season.

Pospisil is currently on a one-year, $775,000 contract, and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in the 2024 offseason.

The Flames entered Tuesday’s game against the Leafs on a four-game winning streak, their longest streak of the season. They sat in fifth in the Pacific Division with a 21-18-5 record entering Tuesday’s game, which is just two points away from the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.