Ryan Johansen injury update: Predators center to have emergency surgery after taking blade to leg
Injuries continue to pile up for the Predators, who were dealt a major blow Tuesday when first-line center Ryan Johansen left Nashville’s game against the Canucks with a right lower leg injury.
Although the nature of the injury is not yet known, Johansen is set to undergo emergency surgery on Wednesday, according to The Tennessean’s Paul Skrbina.
Johansen dropped his gloves and stick on the ice and struggled to make it onto the bench after appearing to hit a blade in the leg late in the second period. He was subsequently helped to the dressing room and did not return.
Nashville coach John Hynes hinted that it’s “possible” that Johansen’s injury was serious. However, he had not yet communicated with the training staff to find out.
“I don’t know,” Hynes said. “I haven’t looked at it. I know he cut himself. Other than that, I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to coaches.”
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Johansen’s injury puts another damper on Nashville’s playoff hopes. The Preds are seven points behind eighth-seeded Wild in the Western Conference rankings and head into Wednesday’s games. However, you have two games in hand.
The 30-year-old center is one of Nashville’s most important forwards with 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) in 55 games. Hynes’ squad was already stretched after losing leading goalscorer Filip Forsberg to an upper-body injury.
Ryan Johansen injury history
Johansen has tended to maintain a clean bill of health throughout his 12-year NHL career. However, Wednesday’s operation will not be the first he has experienced.
The Vancouver native was eliminated from the 2017 playoffs after suffering a hard blow to the left leg in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.
The injury, described by Nashville as “left thigh acute compartment syndrome,” worsened shortly after Johansen left the ice. By the time he finished his post-game shower, “he couldn’t walk.”
“I had to get one of the guys to grab a trainer and come back and help me to the infirmary,” Johansen said, per NHL.com. “And then the doctors looked at it again and the swelling seemed to triple in that 20 minutes of me walking around getting ready to go home.
The Preds overcame Johansen’s suffering and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. However, in the absence of a regular-season top scorer (and second-highest scorer in the playoffs), Nashville faltered, losing 4-2 to the Penguins.
Johansen eventually made a full recovery and played 79 and 80 games respectively over the next two seasons.
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Replacement for Ryan Johansen Predators
With Johansen seemingly destined for a long time on the shelf, you can expect Cody Glass to get its first Ice Age in the future. The 6-foot-3 center isn’t quite the faceoff ace like Johansen (48.6 percent vs. Johansen’s 59.2 percent). However, the pair share similar physiques, which may make it easier to adapt for Hynes’ system.
Also, don’t be surprised if 25-year-old Tommy Novak gets a bump. The River Falls, Wisconsin native has amassed an impressive 17 points in 24 games despite playing mostly on the bottom six lines.