Daemon Hunt injured after a nasty elbow to the head.

This is nothing short of disgusting.

Minnesota Wild rookie forward Daemon Hunt has just suffered what looks to be a fairly serious injury during a preseason game against the Colorado Avalanche after he was on the receiving end of a nasty looking elbow courtesy of Avalanche forward Tanner Kero.

Kero, a veteran of 134 NHL games, made no effort to avoid contact with Hunt, who was looking at the play up ice, and even appears to stick his elbow out in an effort to catch the 21 year old clean in the jaw.

This is made all the worse by the fact that this is a meaningless exhibition game, making Kero's cheapshot look even more malicious given that context. Here's a look at the replay of the incident in question:

Another angle as well as Hunt being helped off the ice:

There was no penalty on the play initially, but you have to believe that the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety will be giving Kero a call in short order.

Hunt did not return to the game for the second period and I do not expect that he will return at any point during this game.