Patrik Laine va chercher un deuxième avis pour sa blessure

CALGARY | The Canadian may have to make do without Patrik Laine well beyond this four-game trip to the continent's west.

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While he continues to say the striker's health is being assessed on a daily basis, the Canadian announced the Finn will meet with a doctor to get a second opinion on the lower-body injury that has kept him out of action for almost a week.

Although he was fit for the Predators' visit last Thursday, the forward missed this morning's training to undergo treatment.

He hasn't put on skates since that meeting, during which he was used for just over 12 minutes.

It goes without saying that this is a puzzling injury considering he didn't necessarily miss any games during this one based on how Martin St. Louis has typically used him since the start of the season.

At this point, all we can know is that it is a lower body injury. Is it the same knee injury, the left one, that forced him to miss the first 24 games of the 2024-25 season?

At the time, following a sprain suffered during the training calendar, Laine refused to go under the knife, preferring to begin rehabilitation immediately.

It was by consulting the second doctor's medical report that he came to this decision. Since he delayed his return to play by a month from his initial diagnosis, the decision appears to have proven him right.

Several shortened seasons

Whether related to last year's sprain or not, this is yet another injury to add to the long list of health issues Lane has faced since the start of his career.

Since the 2019-2020 season, in which he played 68 games (following two consecutive 82-game seasons), he has never worn a uniform for more than 56 games.

Having seduced a certain portion of the Canadian's fans by scoring 20 goals, including 15 on the power play, he failed.

Moreover, when he fell in action, he was still looking for his first goal of the season.

Injured long term?

Let's say this is a bad start for a guy who, from the very beginning of training camp, assured us that we would see the best version of himself.

Let's wait and see what this doctor's diagnosis will be. Let's not make hasty conclusions.

However, if Lane were to be out for an extended period of time, Kent Hughes certainly wouldn't hesitate to place his name and his $8.7 million salary on the long-term injured list.