Prominent NHL Players Suffering Injuries This Pre-Season

The Montreal Canadiens acquired Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets in August. Before the end of September, they lost the Finnish sniper for two to three months following a knee-on-knee collision in pre-season action.

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Unfortunately for the NHL, Laine is just one of many superstars who have suffered injuries in the past two weeks. Several may not make it to Opening Night, slated for October 9.

In Montreal, Laine isn't the only player lost to injury. Young defenseman David Reinbacher injured his knee, which required surgery, putting him on the shelf for five to six months.

Yet, that's not even the worst of the worst. That honor may belong to Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, who broke his ankle and will miss most of the regular season.

The two-time Stanley Cup champion played the fewest games in a season, 39, back in 2021-22, making this freak injury the first significant one of his career.

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On Tuesday night, first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini fell awkwardly into the boards and is now listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. As a key figure in the San Jose Sharks rebuild, losing their top prospect before the games count is not how they drew up the start of their season.

Other big names listed as day-to-day include Pius Suter (upper body), Artemi Panarin (lower body), Brady Tkachuk (upper body), Ryan Pulock (illness), Calvin Pickard (upper body), Brad Marchand (illness), Tom Stutzle (upper body), Jimmy Vesey (lower body), and Thomas Chabot (undisclosed).

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However, several players have suffered injuries in pre-season action that will require them to miss weeks, including Ryan Lindgren (upper body), Laurent Brossoit (knee surgery), John Tavares (lower body), Arthur Kaliyev (collarbone), Logan Stanley (knee), Blake Lizotte (concussion), Alex Nedeljkovic (lower body), and Brett Pesce (lower leg).

Although playing an extended pre-season has been a hot topic in the Montreal area, the debate will pick up momentum in other cities that will be without superstars for days and weeks.

Let the debates begin on how many practice games teams need before the regular season starts because it might not be worth watching this list expand every fall.

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