How Much Will Scottie Upshall’s Injury Hurt the Coyotes?

Jim Neveau, Icy Coyotes Guest Contributor

Oh the horror, the unadulterated horror.

Scottie Upshall, the leading scorer on the Phoenix Coyotes, will be out indefinitely with a torn ACL that he suffered Thursday against the Calgary Flames. The team said that surgery will be needed to repair the tear, and that likely means the end of Upshall’s season.

It is a devastating blow to the Coyotes, who are still scratching and clawing for playoff positioning in the Western Conference. Scottie was leading the team with 18 goals scored this year when he was injured, and his offensive presence will be sorely missed by a team that isn’t exactly the cream of the crop when it comes to offense.

The Coyotes are currently sitting in 18th in the NHL in goals per game with 2.61 per contest. This puts them behind such stalwart franchises as Carolina, Toronto, and Minnesota. They also just got done playing a game last night in Nashville that saw them take home the two points, but not net a single goal in 65 minutes of actual game play.

Nonetheless, the team has won five consecutive games at a point when they were severely faltering last season, and they still have several weapons that are capable of helping them out during this adjustment period without Upshall.

Shane Doan has slowly begun to come out of the doldrums, scoring three goals in his past five games and the wily veteran could be energized by a playoff run. After years of being beaten down by subpar teammates and play from the squad, there could certainly be a bit more left in the tank for the ‘Yotes captain.

Another player that the Coyotes will need to step up will be Radim Vrbata. He only has one goal in his previous five outings, but he is the type of player who is capable of scoring in bunches, and the Coyotes will need him to do just that if they hope to stay in contention in an ever more difficult Western Conference.

Perhaps the biggest unknown variable in all of the Upshall drama is the impact of Ilya Kovalchuk potentially going to the Los Angeles Kings. If the rumors are to be believed, the deal could be imminent, and would certainly cause a shift of power in the Pacific Division.

If Phoenix were to simultaneously lose their primary scorer and the Kings were to infuse a big-time player into their mix, the resulting damage to the Coyotes’ playoff hopes would be absolutely devastating.

So, with all of this in mind, the real question becomes this: are the Phoenix Coyotes doomed without Scottie Upshall? While their performance in the previous few games has been relatively stellar, they seem to have started to feel the loss on the offensive end of the puck.

With the team not in position to make any significant acquisitions because of its tenuous financial footing, the loss of Upshall may be a death knell on their season, and while time will tell if it is, the short-term outlook does not look good for this bunch.

Quick Coyotes Link:

Dave Vest has an excellent piece up on the ‘Yotes website that argues that Keith Yandle should be considered as a replacement for Mike Komisarek and Paul Martin on the US Olympic team. The article can be found here, and it certainly is an argument with some merit.

Tags: Keith Yandle, Phoenix Coyotes, Radim Vrbata, Scottie Upshall, Shane Doan