After the Nashville Predators‘ fourth game of the season, they are now up to three injured players.
On Friday morning, the Nashville Predators placed defenseman William Trudeau on injured reserve. He left the Predators’ most recent game against the Montreal Canadiens. Trudeau had under five minutes of ice time and was designated to have an upper-body injury.
Forward Mavrik Bourque also missed action on Thursday night in Montreal after taking a hit from Canadiens forward Alex Newhook. Bourque did not play in the third period either and is likely to miss Saturday’s game in Ottawa.
Nashville also still has goalie Justus Annunen on IR. He’s been on the shelf all week, with Matt Murray serving as the backup goalie to Juuse Saros. Annunen’s status is still day-to-day and could come off IR before Nashville goes up against the Ottawa Senators tomorrow evening.
Vitali Pinchuk could make his NHL Debut
Now that Bourque is out of the lineup after suffering an upper-body injury, the Predators have an opportunity to dress one of their rookies.
Former KHLer Vitali Pinchuk could make his NHL debut on Saturday. He’s able to play center and wing if needed, and Head Coach Andrew Brunette may want to see what the Belarusian is made of.
Pinchuk got one game in the AHL last week with the Milwaukee Admirals. Once Nashville sent down defenseman Ryan Ufko, the team wanted to go ahead and call up Pinchuk to get him acclimated to the Predators system.
Nashville did not get to see Pinchuk for all of training camp. He was injured after taking a crushing hit from Oasiz Wiesblatt on the first day of camp.
Now that Pinchuk has been around the team and is practicing with them, he could be deemed ready to dress for his first NHL game tomorrow night in Ottawa.
Brunette has continued getting to know his new players, Pinchuk being one of them, while the Predators have been on the road this week. Now he may call Pinchuk’s name to help the team out before coming home.
Nashville’s blue line continues to shuffle
As Trudeau goes on the shelf with an upper-body injury, the Predators will need to lean on a few new faces for the time being.
Ilya Lyubushkin has yet to dress in a game this season and could certainly be called up to the lineup tomorrow night. It may even help Pinchuk feel more comfortable with making his NHL debut should Nashville want to dress the rookie.
Nashville also still has defenseman Jack Ahcan on the roster. He’s served as the extra defenseman in the two games he’s played. Ahcan has one assist and could certainly help the Predators close out their first road trip of the season.
Brunette could also dress seven defensemen again, meaning that Nashville will dress both Lyubushkin and Ahcan. However, doing that will keep Pinchuk from making his NHL debut.
Fans may not get to see Pinchuk make his debut until next week if that were to happen.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Injuries Piling up for Nashville Predators to Open Regular Season