In Monday night's game between the Panthers and Stars, Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen was removed from the game in the 3rd period after suffering a mild concussion.
Lehtonen will have to go through the NHL concussion protocol, which should keep him out for at least a week, but there is a very real chance that he could miss more time than that. The early reports on Tuesday morning was that Lehtonen was feeling good, which is a good sign, but those concussions are a tricky thing.
Lehtonen was a 33-game winner with the Stars last season and there is a pretty good chance that if he can remain healthy, he should be able to reach that mark again this year or even better it by a few wins. I did have him coming in with another 80-point season in my projections.With the Stars opening up their regular season campaign on October 9th, Lehtonen has enough time to make it through the league mandated protocol and get some practice in before the season is a go.
Benson will have until opening night to know whether or not Lehtonen will be good for opening night, as the keeper would qualify for the preseason waivers, but that would mean that he would be giving up on his 2nd round pick (29th overall) in the draft, which would be a tough pill to swallow. If all the speculation is correct, Lehtonen should be okay for opening night, but there are no guarantees.
An updated list of injuries can be found here.
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