Devastating update on Matt Duchene's injury.

A tough injury at a very bad time.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Devastating update on Matt Duchene's injury.
Daniel Lea/CSM/Zuma

The Ottawa Senators and the Senators fan base have just received some rather terrible news, and it may still get worse. 

According to a breaking news report from Ottawa Senators insider Brent Wallace of TSN, the Ottawa Senators have just confirmed that the decision to place star forward Matt Duchene on injured reserve was just the start of the Senators' problems. Earlier this week the Senators placed Duchene on injured reserve after he made an early exit during Thursday night's match up between the Senators and the Montreal Canadiens. The Senators had not disclosed the nature of Duchene's injury but the fact that he was placed on injured reserve did confirm that he would miss at least 3 games. When speaking with Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion this morning however Wallace was able to confirm that things are significantly worse than that.

Wallace is now reporting that Dorion informed him that Duchene is now expected to miss several "weeks" as a result of the injury that at this time still remains a mystery. It's really hard to tell what in the world could have happened to Duchene as the last play he made on the ice on Thursday was to race down the playing surface in an attempt to beat an icing call. There was absolutely no contact made with Duchene on the play so it's hard to tell what happened to him, but he did limp back to the bench after the play so perhaps he pulled something while bolting down the ice at full speed, although that is purely speculation on my part at this time,.

The news is devastating for a Senators team that was desperate for reelvance this season after owner Eugene Melnyk alienated a significnt segment of their fan base with some of his public comments in recent months. The loss of Duchene, the organizations leading scorer with 12 goals and 22 assists for a total of 34 points on the seasons, who was putting up well over a point per game this season will greatly impact the Senators odds of remaining in the playoff hunt. That being said though perhaps no one will be more frustrated than Duchene himself. 

This is a contract year for the star forward and there's little doubt that he's looking for a big pay day when he hits the unrestricted free agent market. A big injury of this nature could greatly impact how much he can command as a free agent come the summer.

Update: The Sens have confirmed this is a groin issue.


[pub]


{RECOTOOL}}

Source: