Monday, March 21, 2011

Malhotra Done for the Remainder of the Year

The Vancouver Canucks announced on Monday afternoon that forward Manny Malhotra will not return to the line-up at any point in time during the remainder of the regular season, through the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Malhotra suffered a major eye injury after taking a deflected puck up into the face.  He had to undergo immediate eye surgery and after a consultation over the past few days, it has been decided for him to shut it down.

This comes as a pretty big blow to the Canucks, as Malhotra was playing a key role on the team's 3rd line, penalty kill and some power play.  Malhotra was 2nd in the NHL in faceoff winning percentage and will also finish the year with 11 goals and 19 assists in 72 games with the club.  He was on pace to finish short of some of his career-highs, but he was still a very valuable member to the team.

ImplicationsThe biggest implications coming from Malhotra's loss will be to the selection sheet pool down the stretch, not to say he was greatly popular, but I know a few people had him through trades and the playoff pool, where he figured into Box 7 for the Canucks, where I was putting in X-factor players in the Western Conference.  Malhotra now becomes a land mine pick, not able to generate any points from here on in.

Link to the Injury/News Page

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