Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The Anaheim Ducks have announced they have assigned defenseman Nolan Yonkman to the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League.
#NHLDucks reassign defenseman Nolan Yonkman to the @NorfolkAdmirals of the AHL. http://t.co/baTovTfpPn
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) January 14, 2014
Yonkman was recalled when Bryan Allen was placed on injured reserve, but he did not play in any contest since being called up.
In two games this season – both played in November – Yonkman has registered one assist, three shots on goal and had a minus-one rating.
With Yonkman being sent back down to the AHL, it is likely that a defenseman is getting ready to return to the lineup – most likely Allen, but we will likely not know for sure until Wednesday when the Ducks take on the Vancouver Canucks.
The Ducks have dealt with a plethora of injuries on the blue line. Sheldon Souray has yet to play a game this year, Luca Sbisa has spent two different stints on injured reserve and Francois Beauchemin missed some time as well – all taking place before Allen’s injury.
Of course looking at the bright side of things, had all of these injuries not occurred Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen may have not received the opportunity they did. Now that they did, once the Ducks get fully healthy, it will be hard to argue that the Ducks are one of the deepest teams at NHL ready defenseman.
The Ducks take on the Canucks Wednesday night, 7:30 pm PT.
Anthony Murphy is the Editor at Pucks of a Feather. You reach him at amurphy540@pullinamurph.com or on Twitter @AMurphyTFC.