In the light of a recent rash of injuries to Peter Regin, Milan Michalek and of course the biggest one to Erik Karlsson, the Ottawa Senators made the call and brought up 3 players from the AHL Binghamton Senators.
Both Karlsson and Michalek are on the shelf, one for long term and one for hopefully a very short term. . Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
It is unfortunate that Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman are unable to be called up due to injury, because they represent the most offensive potential in Binghamton. That gives the shot to Eric Gryba, Derek Grant and David Dziurzynski, who were promoted to Ottawa Friday morning. Obviously, none of these playesrs will be able to replace the lost production of the players they are filling in for, they are all having good seasons in Binghamton and deserve to be called up.
Gryba will have the task of filling in for Karlsson (at least his spot on the roster), but he might just be insurance as the 7th man. Expect Andre Benoit and Patrick Wiercioch to stay in the lineup ahead of him. Gryba has yet to play an NHL game and has been in Binghamton for two full seasons prior to this one. He currently leads the AHL with a +28 rating, and has 11 points to go along with 75 penalty minutes in 38 games. He replaced Benoit in the AHL All-Star game earlier this month.
Grant leads Binghamton with 15 goals, and also has 6 assists in the 47 games he has played this season. Dziurzynski is an imposing figure at 6’3″, 220 lbs and has 100 penalty minutes to go along with 3 goals and 14 assists in 44 games.
With only 10 healthy forwards, both Grant and Dziurzynski will likely make their NHL debuts on Saturday in Toronto. Regin will most likely remain out with a chest injury, and the status of Michalek is in doubt after suffering a knee injury in warmup prior to Wednesday’s loss in Pittsburgh. Guillaume Latendresse hasn’t practiced in some time and there has been no mention of when he may return to the lineup.