Star Utah heart Logan Cooley shall be sidelined indefinitely with a lower-body damage, the workforce announced Friday. He’ll be re-evaluated when the league schedule resumes following the 4 Nations Face-Off.
It’s not clear when Cooley sustained the injury. He skated 19:50 against the Penguins on Wednesday, more than two minutes above his season average, and ended a three-game point drought in the process with a secondary assist on a Mikhail Sergachev energy play aim.
Cooley, the third-overall decide of the 2022 draft by the Coyotes, has but to overlook a sport since signing his entry-level contract with Arizona in the summertime of 2023. He’ll now be held out of Utah’s subsequent six video games, the stability of their schedule till the 4 Nations event, at a minimal.
The 20-year-old’s absence shall be felt immensely for a workforce with a bottom-10 offense already coping with a lower-body injury to top-six winger Dylan Guenther. He’s damaged out in a giant manner after an inconsistent rookie marketing campaign, rating second on Utah in scoring with 43 factors (15 G, 28 A) by 50 video games. His plus-four score is tied for fourth on the membership, and his 17:47 ATOI ranks third amongst forwards behind Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz. He’s additionally bettering within the faceoff dot — whereas nonetheless subpar with a 44.2% win price on over 500 attracts, it’s up by a major margin from final yr’s 38% determine.
That leap in manufacturing comes regardless of Cooley logging most of his time at even power away from Keller and Schmaltz, who Barrett Hayton has centered for a lot of the yr. As an alternative, Cooley anchors the workforce’s second line between Guenther and Jack McBain, nonetheless tying for second on the workforce with 19 even-strength assists.
Cooley’s two-way sport continues to be growing, however extra regarding is the lack of Utah’s arguably only even-strength producer as they slide additional out of the wild-card race within the Western Convention. It’s been an injury-fueled, inconsistent first yr in Salt Lake Metropolis for the ex-Coyotes group, who’ve handled prolonged absences to Guenther and top-four defenders Sean Durzi and John Marino. It’s not all unhealthy information, although — Marino returned earlier this month and has 4 assists by eight video games, whereas Guenther and Durzi skated with the workforce Friday in non-contact jerseys, Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune experiences.
Within the meantime, Hayton will possible overtake Cooley’s job on the highest power-play unit and can look to spice up his manufacturing. The 2018 fifth-round decide has been an excellent two-way complement at even power to Keller and Schmaltz, recording 26 factors by 50 video games with a second-place plus-seven score. Hayton’s 11 even-strength targets are second on the workforce behind Keller’s 13, however he has simply two power-play factors this season whereas skating with the second unit.
