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Top Lightning prospect Drouin suffers possible concussion

Jonathan Drouin

Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Jonathan Drouin waits for play to resume in the first period of a preseason NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

AP

It’s never pleasant to see a top prospect suffer a possible concussion. The Tampa Bay Lightning must stomach a double whammy, though, as 2013 first-rounder (third overall) Jonathan Drouin suffered that injury thanks to a hit by Adam Erne ... a player the team drafted one round later (33rd overall).

Drouin’s Halifax Mooseheads announced that he’s dealing with concussion-like symptoms and will be reevaluated on Saturday. Erne, 18, received a game misconduct for checking from behind on the hit.

As unsettling as this is for the Lightning, Erne’s also becoming an unpopular man in Canada, as many are freaking out on Twitter about this injury possibly keeping Drouin, 18, out of the 2014 World Junior Hockey Championships.

The Bolts have already been dealing with major injuries at the NHL level, but now even prospects in the QMJHL are suffering from unsettling ailments. The fact that another Lightning prospect is guilty of delivering the check just adds insult to many injuries.

Erne already has an NHL rap sheet, too, as he was suspended three preseason games for a hit on Vladimir Sobotka:

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins