After what has felt like weeks of unfortunate injury news, Utah Hockey Club fans finally got some positive news on the injury front as Utah Hockey Club head coach Andre Tourigny announced that Nick Bjugstad is fully healthy and will make his season debut and Utah Hockey Club debut on Saturday night against the Los Angeles Kings.
Bjugstad went into training camp with an upper-body injury. He was listed as week to week, which forced him to miss all of training camp and the preseason. Much like John Marino's injury going into camp, Utah kept things pretty quiet and never truly provided a timeline for his return until last week.
Last Friday, October 18th, Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Andre Tourigny had said Bjugstad was "seven to 10" days away from returning to the Utah Hockey Club lineup.
Fast forward to yesterday, seven days after Belle Fraser's original tweet, when Bjugstad was a full participant in practice. The Utah Hockey Club put Kailer Yamamoto on waivers, which leads people to believe that Bjugstad will make his season debut on Saturday against the Kings as Utah would have had to make this roster move to open up a roster spot for Bjugstad who had to come off of the injury reserve.
Nick Bjugstad to make Utah Hockey Club season debut against the Kings
Getting Bjugstad back will be a massive addition to Utah's lineup. First, Bjustad is enormous—6'6" and 205 pounds. He will add some much-needed size and physicality to this Utah Hockey Club lineup.
Bjugstad is a former first-round pick of the Florida Panthers back in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and found his way to the Arizona Coyotes in 2022-2023 after seven seasons with the Florida Panthers, two with the Pittsburgh Penguins and two with the Minnesota Wild. He was then traded away from Arizona to the Edmonton Oilers at the 2022-2023 trade deadline before resigning with the Coyotes again in the 2023-2024 season.
Bjugstad has 149 goals and 162 assists for 311 points throughout his 13-year NHL career (via NHL.com). Last year, he ranked among the top 20% of forwards in offensive wins above replacement, top 14% in goal scoring and top 18% in high-danger passing. In addition to the offence he brings, Bjugstad plays a heavy game, as he finished inside the top 15% of forwards in forecheck involvement and 27% in hits last season (via @JFreshHockey).
Bjugstad is the prototypical power forward every coach loves to have. He's a physical player who will turn pucks over on the offensive end and has some offensive skills that make him a phenomenal finisher who excels in tight spaces. I would expect Tourigny to start Bjugstad on the third line, but I would not be shocked if he finds his way into a top-six goal with Utah struggling to put pucks in the net over their last five games.