Predators lose P.K. Subban for 2-3 weeks with upper-body injury

The New Year didn’t get off to the best of starts for the Nashville Predators as they announced on Sunday that P.K. Subban will miss 2-3 weeks with an upper-body injury.

That means Subban, who’s already sat out Nashville’s last seven games, will not be in the lineup for the visit of his old team, the Montreal Canadiens, on Tuesday to Bridgestone Arena. The two sides meet again on March 2 at Bell Centre, which will certainly be a hot ticket if Subban’s able to play.

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Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night in Canada that Subban is rumored to be dealing with a herniated disc. The options were rest or surgery, with the latter putting the remainder of the 27-year-old blue liner’s regular season in jeopardy. For now, he’ll rest.

As 2017 gets under way, the Predators sit just outside the Western Conference playoff picture two points out of a wild card spot and five points behind the St. Louis Blues for the third seed in the Central Division. This is a blow to a defense that has seen Subban post seven goals and 17 points through 29 games, as well as average 25:03 of ice time per game.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy