NHL Injury: Maple Leafs place Morgan Rielly on LTIR, Yotes welcome back Jakob Chychrun
The Daily Goal Horn
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The Toronto Maple Leafs injury woes on defense worsen with news that top blue-liner Morgan Rielly will be out at least for the next 10 games.
Plus defenseman Jakob Chychrun finally returns back to the Arizona Coyotes lineup.
NHL Injury: Morgan Reilly on LTIR
The Toronto Maple Leafs placed defenseman Morgan Rielly on long-term injured reserve Tuesday with a knee injury.
In a corresponding move, the Leafs recalled defensemen Mac Hollowell and Victor Mete from their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.
Rielly suffered the injury after colliding with New York Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri during Monday night’s game. Rielly came up clutching his left knee and played one more shift before exiting the game, a 3-2 overtime win for the Islanders.
Rielly will have to miss at least 10 games and 24 days.
“It’s for sure worrisome,” Maple Leafs forward John Tavares said after the game.
Toronto is already without defensemen Jake Muzzin and TJ Brodie, both on injured reserve.
Rielly, 28, has 16 assists in 20 games this season. He has 389 points (69 goals, 320 assists) in 674 career games, all with Toronto.
Jakob Chychrun back for Yotes
The Arizona Coyotes welcomed back an important piece of their defensive unit back when Jakob Chychrun made his season debut Monday in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators.
He finished the game with two shots in 23 minutes of action.
Chychrun, 24, underwent wrist surgery in the offseason and hasn’t played since sustaining an ankle injury March 12 in a loss to the Boston Bruins.
The 16th overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft, Chychrun posted 21 points in 40 games last season. He’s compiled 142 points (53 goals, 89 assists) over six seasons (337 games) with the Coyotes.
“You look at (Chychrun), he hasn’t played in eight months,” said coach Andre Tourigny, who will pair Chychrun with Shayne Gostisbehere. “So he needs a little bit of time.
“He’s a really good player. He’s important for us. But we’ll take what he will give us. I’m sure it will be plenty, but still at the same time, I don’t want to put pressure on him.”
–Field Level Media