Arizona Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson falls to an injury

Arizona Coyotes defensemanNiklas Hjalmarsson left Saturday night’s game in Denver after blocking a shot from Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson with 6:24 remaining in the first period. He may not be back for a while.

During Hjalmarsson’s crucial shot block Saturday night in Colorado, the puck appeared to hit the side of his left leg. The puck hit just above the knee, where there is no padding to prevent an injury. Arizona Coyotes Head Coach Rick Tocchet, who we recently highlighted in our coaches article, didn’t give many details on Hjalmarsson’s injury after the game. However he did conclude that, “it doesn’t look like it’s going to be day-to-day.”

Unfortunately, we can probably assume it will be awhile before we see Hjalmarsson anchoring the Coyotes blue line. Hopefully the team will give an update on his status Sunday or Monday.

Who will step up to the plate?

With Hjalmarsson likely out for a few weeks or more, the Coyotes have a huge hole to fill on their defense. Hjalmarsson is by far their best defensive defenseman and one of the best in the league. The two players who will likely get some playing time are Ilya Lyubushkin and Kyle Capobianco.

Lyubushkin is probably the favorite to start Tuesday night in Winnipeg, as he is already traveling with the team. He also plays a more defensive style and will bring some physicality to the Coyotes defensive corps. Lyubushkin played in 41 games last season with the Coyotes recording 4 assists and 150 hits. Ilya Lyubushkin is capable of playing all kinds of physical sides of the game, and even dropped the gloves last season against Patrick Maroon.

Capobianco on the other hand was a healthy scratch for the first three games before being assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday. Although he is down in the minors you should expect to see him at some point. Especially if Hjalmarsson’s injury keeps him out multiple weeks as we expect. Capobianco skated in only two games with the Coyotes last year before a major ACL injury ended his season.

Capobianco, a 22-year-old former 3rd round pick, was most likely sent down to get a little more playing time with Tucson. However the Hjalmarsson injury changes things for the team.

With the Arizona Coyotes offense struggling to score goals, they can not afford for their defense to become a liability. The defense must continue to be their bread and butter moving forward.