The Arizona Coyotes suffered a major blow to their lineup, but the panic button shouldn’t be spammed just yet as they have others who can contribute.
Last night against the Calgary Flames , forward Nick Schmaltz went down with an injury, though the specification and the extent of his situation is unclear.
Reflecting on what transpired in the 3-2 overtime loss, head coach André Tourigny said Schmaltz is out day-to-day and questionable for tomorrow vs. the Vancouver Canucks.
Information will come out sooner rather than later of what happened to the Coyotes’ star, but there are other players that they could rely upon if Schmaltz’s injury is more serious than first thought.
Options Aplenty
With Schamltz’s absence, Matias Maccelli was implemented on the wing alongside Clayton Keller and Jack McBain on the first line last night. Maccelli holds the second-highest point total on the ‘Yotes with 29 (7 goals, 22 assists) in 42 games.
Arizona will most likely resort to Maccelli because of his offensive output, but they could experiment with Logan Cooley, Lawson Crouse, Jason Zucker or even Dylan Guenther.
Cooley has recently transitioned from center to the wing, posting three points in his last four games. He scored a goal last night and had two breakaways against the Flames.
Crouse and Zucker add physicality and a veteran presence to the Coyotes, and have experience playing on the first line at separate moments of the season.
As for Guenther, he is a wildcard. Being called up almost two weeks ago, his promotion from the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) to Arizona has seen him integrated onto the first line power play unit and could do so 5-on-5.
The Coyotes clash with the Canucks tomorrow night who are tied for first place in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets.
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