MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. (AP) — St. Louis Blues defenseman Philip Broberg is expected to miss the next four to six weeks because of an apparent right leg injury.
Coach Drew Bannister gave the update on Broberg’s status Monday, calling it a lower-body injury. Bannister called the prognosis good news given how bad the injury looked at the time.
“It could’ve been a lot worse,” Bannister said after practice. “I’m happy that he’s going to be back. It could’ve been worse, but it isn’t. He was playing really good hockey, and now it’s like ‘Let’s get him back on the ice and get him back to game speed.’ That’s going to take a little bit of time, but I think the player himself is really happy.”
Broberg’s right leg bent at an awkward angle when he was tangled up with Toronto forward Mitch Marner in the second period Saturday night. He clutched at the leg and needed help getting off the ice.
The 23-year-old Swede is the latest Blues player to miss time with injury. The team is already without forwards Robert Thomas, Kasperi Kapanen and Mathieu Joseph, and defensemen Nick Leddy and Torey Krug.
Thomas has a broken ankle, while Krug is expected to miss the entire season after undergoing ankle surgery.
“I think our guys have done a real good job of stepping into those situations,” Bannister said. “You can’t necessarily expect somebody to come in and take over Robby’s job or Broberg’s job. You need it to be a team effort, and you need all 20 guys pushing in the same direction, playing the right way.”
Scott Perunovich figures to take Broberg’s spot in the lineup for St. Louis, which is 6-6-0 through 12 games. Broberg was among the team’s leading scorers with nine points after signing an offer sheet this past summer as a restricted free agent.
“Now Prune’s able to step in and get an opportunity and we’re going to have to lean on these guys to play some good hockey for us,” Bannister said. “The group on the ice will get the job done while those guys are out. It’s an opportunity at making sure we’re doing the right thing, and we can’t just rely on one or two players to fill the spot. We need everybody on the ice pushing in the right direction.”
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