Arizona Coyotes lose Jason Demers for the season through injury
By James Reeve
The Arizona Coyotes’ injury struggles continue with the news that Jason Demers will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
The injury came during the Coyotes’ 2-1 home victory over the Nashville Predators, with Demers clashing with Kyle Turris.
Contact between the two appeared to be fairly limited, but after Demers dropped to his knees and tried to get back up, the defenceman fell back down and needed assistance leaving the game.
It has been announced that Demers will now be out for the remainder of the season – piling on the pressure for a Coyotes blueline group also without Jakob Chychrun and Alex Goligoski.
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Chychrun returned to the line-up after a long injury spell just last week, but is now already listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Goligoski meanwhile, has not played since November 8th and is also listed as day-to-day.
Losing Demers is big for the Coyotes, who have prided themselves on having a truly dominate penalty killing unit and one of the best defensive performances of the entire NHL.
Demers is often played heavily in the offensive zone, starting there 63.5% of the time, and has positive possession stats with a 50.7% Corsi rating.
He averages just under 20 minutes a game on the ice and is considered one of the team’s top four players along the blue-line.
He has thrown his body around often so far this season, with 19 hits and blocking 14 shots, while also having four takeaways.
Demers doesn’t often produce offensively, with just a goal and two assists so far this season, but his impact defensively will be noticed in the comings weeks.
The hope for the Arizona Coyotes is that Chychrun and Goligoski won’t be out for too long and can step back into the line-up sooner rather than later.
But if this isn’t the case, then things could be a lot shakier in the Coyotes’ zone.
As a result of Demers’ injury, the Coyotes have recalled defenceman Robbie Russo from the Tucson Roadrunners.
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What do you think Coyotes fans? How big is losing Demers for the season? Let us know what your thoughts are in the comments below!