Derek Stepan has added to the Coyotes completely insane injury woes, and will miss four to six weeks with what is being called either an upper or a lower body injury.
Now that we live in a post-fact society, it's up to you whether your consider the knee the upper or the lower part of the body, and I have to respect your choice.
Either way, Stepan is out for most of the rest of the season, and possibly the first round of the playoffs, should the Coyotes make it this far.
Now, some people who don't watch the Coyotes might say "So what, Derek Stepan is nothing special." Those people would be incorrect, Derek Stapan is ____ awesome.
Even the emergence of Tony DeAngelo as a halfway decent player can't erase the magic of the trade that John Chayka made to acquire Stepan and Raanta from the Rangers.
Raanta is a top five goalie in the NHL, and outside of Jake Gardiner, Derek Stepan might be the most underrated player.
After five straight 50 points seasons, you might think Stepan has dropped off a bit, given he only has 13 goals and 32 points so far this year.
Stepan, along with Richard Panik, are consistently asked to faceoff against the other team's best players, and they have done a fantastic job. They usually get either Hinostroza, Keller or Fischer on their right, but no matter who they have, they've done great.
Despite his usage, Stepan has a positive possession rating, is only a -3, and is only down eight goals total at 5v5.
Considering his preposterous 6% on-ice shooting, his brutally low PDO and tough assignments, it is down right spectacular that he's producing positive differentials in shots and shot-attempts.
Where any of his wingers able to bury chances, he's be on track for his usual 50 points. What he should be on track for is a Selke Trophy, or at least a nomination.
The Coyotes have won five in a row, they could be in a playoff spot, in March, with a win today and a Dallas loss. Their top three centres, Stepan, Nich Schmaltz, and Christian Dvorak have all missed considerable amounts of time this year.
Dvorak just played his first game of the year this week, Schamltz has been out for the season sine January, and now Stepan.
Second-best defenseman Jason Demers has been out all year, and he'll be back next week. Jacob Chychrun missed the first three months of the year.
Antti Raanta is out for the season.
Alex Galchenyuk missed time with two separate injuries.
Michael Grabner hasn't played since December.
Vinnie Hinostroza missed a bunch of time.
As did recent four goal scorer Brad Richardson.
OEL was injured for a bit. Their top prospect, Nick Merkley, missed the first several months of the year.
After tonight, only Hjalmarsson, Keller and Cousins will have played in every game.
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