Cam Fowler will miss the next 3-5 weeks with a sprained knee, are the Anaheim Ducks now in trouble?
The Anaheim Ducks season has been a series of ups and down. That trend continues as the Ducks are coming off of a good Western Canadian road trip where they earned 5 out of a possible 6 points, but bad news struck earlier today.
The Ducks announced that defensemen Cam Fowler will miss the next 3-5 weeks with a sprained knee.
Fowler was injured early in last Sunday’s 4-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. As he skated the puck into the offensive zone down the boards, Flyers defensemen Radko Gudas threw a hip check that trapped Fowler’s knee against the boards. Fowler skated off grimacing and did not return.
This news is not all to surprising for a number of reasons. The Ducks recalled prospect Shea Theodore almost immediately after Fowler’s injury as they knew it was not good and that pointed to signs of the Ducks top defensemen missing a significant amount of time.
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Fowler also sprained a ligament in his knee at the end of the 2013-2014 season which sidelined him for 11 games, three and a half weeks. The same timetable has been set for this injury so you now have to believe it is a ligament issue once again.
The Ducks are still without defensemen Simon Despres, who suffered a concussion early yon in the season, and he doesn’t appear close to returning. He began skating on his own last week but things will be taken cautiously as he slowly ramps up his workout intensity in hopes to get back into game shape.
So it appears that both Fowler and Despres will be out for at least the next three weeks. Both have played big roles in the Ducks top four the past two seasons.
Top defensive prospect Shea Theodore played in all three games on the road trip and he showed that he can play a big role filling in for Fowler. Theodore’s instincts and passing ability are already at an NHL level and he should stay with the Ducks barring a trade that brings in another defensemen.
Fowler is the Ducks ice time leader, playing over 23 minutes a game and it is never easy to lose a guy of that importance.
Ducks general manager Bob Murray is now put into a tough spot, does he make a move to acquire a defensemen? Or does he continue to rely on young blue-liners Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen to pick up the slack and keep the Ducks afloat.
Next: Grading Shea Theodores NHL Debut
A huge 8 game homestand begins tomorrow for the Ducks and a number of the leagues best teams will test Anaheim during this critical time. Fowler’s return can not come soon enough.