Surgery Sidelines Shattenkirk

A huge blow to the St. Louis Blues was dealt on Monday evening, as the team announced that they will be without All-Star defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk for an indefinite period of time.

The word is that the 26-year old blueliner was hurt on the weekend against the Capitals and that in about a week's time, he will undergo surgery for his abdominal area and the team will have him listed as out week-to-week, with no definite timetable for a return.

Shattenkirk has been so good this season, picking up 8 goals and 40 points in 49 games this season for the Blues, which is good enough for 50th overall in pool scoring, going into Monday night's action.  That has him alone in 2nd place in scoring among defensemen this season and he was on pace to decimate his previous career highs in points, which he set last season, 45 points in 81 games.  With only nine weeks to go in the season, he may be in tough to break some records, especially if he misses half that time due to injury.

A tough decision now faces Tony, who has been relying heavily on the American-born blueliner, does he try to find points elsewhere or does he sit on Shattenkirk and hope for a speedy recovery?  Tony sits in 7th place, 25 points out of the money, and is now with out his best defenseman and 3rd-best player overall on his team.

There isn't going to be many options for Tony to choose from in this Waiver Draft, especially if he's looking for someone who can fill the points per game pace that Shattenkirk was offering.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.