Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

NHL injury roundup: Matt Duchene ‘week-to-week’ with groin injury

Ottawa Senators v Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 04: Matt Duchene #95 of the Ottawa Senators skates against the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on December 4, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Getty Images

The Ottawa Senators lost Matt Duchene and Bobby Ryan to injury in their most recent game against the Montreal Canadiens, and according to the team they are both going to be sidelined for the foreseeable future.

The Senators announced on Saturday that Duchene has been placed on injured reserve with a groin injury and is considered “week-to-week,” while Ryan is sidelined with a concussion.

There is no timetable for Ryan’s return to the lineup.

These are two pretty significant injuries for the Senators. Duchene, currently playing in a contract year, is having one of the best seasons of his career and is the team’s leading scorer with 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) in 29 games. It is extremely unlikely that he will re-sign with the team before becoming a free agent, and given the nature of the organization’s ongoing rebuild he will be a prime trade candidate at some point this season.
[Related: 10 players helping themselves the most in contract years]

Ryan is the team’s sixth-leading scorer with 18 points.

The one thing the Senators have had going for them this season has been the fact their offense has been among the best in the league. Losing Ryan, and especially Duchene, is going to put a significant dent in that. The Senators have lost six of their past nine games entering Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and are currently 26th in the NHL with a .466 points percentage. They do not own a first-round pick in the 2019 draft as it was sent to the Colorado Avalanche as part of the Duchene trade a year ago.

Other injury news around the NHL this weekend...

-- Ottawa’s opponent on Saturday, Pittsburgh, will be without one of its top forwards in Patric Hornqvist as he is dealing with an upper-body injury. He exited Pittsburgh’s win against the New York Islanders on Thursday after playing just one period. There is no word on what the injury is, except for the Penguins saying it is not related to the concussion that recently sidelined him. On Tuesday he recorded the fastest hat trick in Penguins franchise history.

-- The Philadelphia Flyers will not have star center Sean Couturier on Saturday due to a lower-body injury. He is considered day-to-day.

-- Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson will not play on Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, missing his second consecutive game due to a concussion. Wilson was injured on Tuesday night when he was hit by Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves. Reaves was ejected for the hit but not suspended.

-- The Chicago Blackhawks activated defenseman Connor Murphy from injured reserve and replaced him on the IR list (retroactive to Dec. 5) with Gustav Forsling who is out with a shoulder injury.

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.