The Arizona Coyotes announced that forward Nick Schmaltz had suffered an upper-body injury on Thursday versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. Per the announcement, Schmaltz is considered day-to-day. The Coyotes recalled forward Laurent Dauphin from the AHL today, so it’s possible his recall was motivated by this injury development.
The injury leaves a hole on the Coyotes’ first line, where Schmaltz had been playing with Clayton Keller and Travis Boyd. The 26-year-old forward has 16 points in 19 games so far this year and scored 59 points in 63 games last year. Injuries have been a consistent nagging issue for Schmaltz so far in his career, and he hasn’t yet had a fully healthy season in his career. He’ll hope to quickly get past this injury and continue what looks like it could be a productive year.