Vancouver Canucks first-rounder Brendan Gaunce out 3-6 weeks; can Bulls pick up scoring slack without him?

Goal-scoring has often been at a premium for the Belleville Bulls recently and now their No. 1 centre is sidelined for about a month.

Vancouver Canucks first-round selection Brendan Gaunce leads the Bulls' forwards with nine points in 11 games for a Bulls team that, thanks to Malcolm Subban in goal, is making a lot out sometimes little offence. Now the Bulls, who are fourth in the OHL's wide-open Eastern Conference with a 7-3-1-0 record while having scored only 29 goals in 11 games, will be missing Gaunce for an extended period.

(Update: it is a second-degree shoulder separation.)

From Jack Miller, the Bulls long-time radio announcer:

The NHL lockout might have indirectly helped the Bulls, since overage Anaheim Ducks draft choice Joseph Cramarossa is with the Bulls rather than being a first-year pro. Cramarossa at least gives the Bulls at least one true centre to pick up some of the slack left by Gaunce's absence, but there is no fully replacing the two-way centre. Gaunce's absence presumably would also affect the Bulls' best finishers on the wings, Edmonton Oilers draft choice Daniil Zharhov and draft-year winger Sergey Kuptsov.

Suffice to say, the Bulls might be leaning a lot on Malcolm Subban (2.26 average, .926 save percentage) a lot more than usual while Gaunce is gone. The potential 6-week estimate could be more of a worst-case scenario, so presumably Gaunce returns before Subban leaves in December to join the national junior team.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.