Yesterday, Sean Durzi left the Utah Hockey Club's loss to the New Jersey Devils after suffering an injury in the first period. Following the game, Andre Tourigny said he had no update on Durzi and would need to be reevaluated.
But Belle Fraser also reported that Durzi was seen walking around in a sling after the game. The combination of Durzi needing to be reevaluated by other doctors and wearing the sling after the game were not good signs, and that alone showed Durzi would miss some time.
Today, Utah Hockey Club General Manager Bill Armstrong went on KSLSportsZone radio and told Hans Olsen that Durzi would be out for the foreseeable future.
Bill Armstrong says Sean Durzi is out for the foreseeable for Utah Hockey Club
On Monday, in Utah HC's 3-0 loss to the Devils, Durzi took 12 shifts in the first period before not taking a shift for the remainder of the game. It is unclear where or what play Durzi was injured, or even if the initial injury happened in this game against New Jersey. However, he did take one hit in the first period of this Devils game, and it looked awkward.
The hit came late in the first period when Durzi rushed the puck up the ice. He gained the center ice red line and dished the puck into the Devils' end to apply some offensive zone pressure.
As Durzi dumped the puck, a New Jersey Devils back checker laid a shoulder-to-shoulder bodycheck on Durzi in front of the New Jersey bench. While the hit looked reasonably harmless, Durzi did go awkwardly into the boards, and the injury possibly happened in this play.
As detailed in an article we wrote this morning about Durzi, he has been a significant part of this team as "Durzi and Sergachev are the only two Utah defensemen winning their minutes at five-on-five with above a 51% expected goal share, scoring chance share and high-danger chance share percentage" (via UtahOnIce).
Durzi's missing significant time will leave a massive hole in the Utah Hockey Club's top four defensemen, and it is unclear who will be able to step into this role. Michael Kesselring, Ian Cole, and Vladislav Kolyachonok have all been somewhat unreliable, losing the shot share, scoring chance share, and expected goal share while on the ice.
But one of these guys must step up in Durzi's absence and play those top four minutes so Utah's seventh defenceman, Robert Bortuzzo, or young prospect Maveric Lamoureux can slot in on Utah's third pairing.