For the second time this year, New Jersey Devils center Jacob Josefson suffered a significant injury that will cause him to miss an extended period of time.
Josefson fractured his wrist late in the first period against the New York Islanders on Tuesday, and doctors said he would miss at least 4-6 weeks. This comes just a month after Josefson returned to the lineup after fracturing his clavicle bone in October.
It's a tough break for Josefson, who scored two goals in March after missing half the season. It also comes at a rough time for the Devils, as head coach Pete DeBoer finally seemed to find his lines heading into the playoffs next week.
“It’s a tough break,” DeBoer told Tom Gulitti of The Record. “He was playing so well and to come back and already battle through the one major injury, it’s a tough hand to be dealt for him and for us because he was becoming a real valuable piece for us.”
New Jersey has been stung by the injury bug all season long, and most recently the team has been without Anton Volchenkov, Henrik Tallinder, Travis Zajac and David Clarkson.
Zajac and Volchenkov returned to action last week, but the Devils may once again become short-handed at center with two games to play.
With Zajac out for most of the season, the Devils relied on Dainius Zubrus and Patrik Elias to center the second line in his absence. Now that Josefson is out for the season, one of those two players may have to return to that position when the playoffs begin on April 11th.
The other option would be to call someone up from the AHL, which would allow the Devils to keep the lines that have scored 14 goals in the past three games.
Brad Mills and Steven Zalewski have both seen some time at the NHL level this season, but it could allow New Jersey to give winger Mattias Tedenby another chance to prove himself this year.
It will be tough for New Jersey to find a replacement so late in the season, especially with their next two opponents being playoff-bound teams (Detroit, Ottawa). With the way the offense has been performing in the past three games, perhaps the best option would to let someone from the AHL come up and center the fourth line.
"That’s what depth is about. It’s something we’ve dealt with all year," DeBoer told Gulitti. "We’ve just got to keep moving forward."
In 27 games, Mills recorded just one point and a minus-10 rating, while Zalewski failed to record a point and posted a minus-2 rating in seven games. Josefson had two goals and nine points in 41 games this year.
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