Donovan Neuls’ injury potentially a huge loss for T-Birds

At this point, it’s unknown how significant the injury that Donovan Neuls suffered in Sunday’s preseason game versus Spokane was. But at the time, the prognosis wasn’t good.

Neuls, a 5-foot-10 center from Grenfell, Saskatoon, appeared to take a knee-to-knee hit from Spokane’s Hudson Elynuik and immediately reached for his leg. T-Birds trainer Phil Varney immediately attended to a writhing Neuls before two teammates put Neuls’ arms over their shoulders and helped him to the locker room.

Following Seattle’s 5-2 victory, Neuls could be seen in the tunnel outside of the locker room on crutches and with a sizable brace on his knee.

Again, it’s unknown how serious the injury Neuls suffered was, but should he have to miss a significant amount of time, it would be an enormous blow to a team hoping to go deep in the playoffs.

His injury may not garner the attention that some of the team’s higher scorers might, but it would be a difficult loss to overcome nonetheless.

It looked like Neuls, who had 24 points in 69 games last year, might center the team’s fourth line this season. It’s a testament to Seattle’s depth that a player of his caliber would be on the fourth line, but losing someone like the 18-year-old Neuls would limit the T-Birds’ flexibility moving forward.

First, Seattle has three lines this year that are more than capable of scoring, including a checking line that looks like it will consist of Scott Eansor, Jamal Watson, and Nolan Volcan. That line has been impressive offensively during the preseason, and if Steve Konowalchuk can get consistent defensive play out of his fourth line, it would allow him to be more flexible with the players who have traditionally played checking roles.

Second, Neuls is capable of playing any of the three forward positions, so as injuries occur and Seattle sends players to rookie camps, training camps, and various other events, he’d be able to capably fill in for anyone on the top lines. His 24 points in a checking role as a 17-year-old rookie show that he’s capable of more if asked to do so.

Neuls is a defensive specialist and high-energy player, two traits that he consistently brings night in and night out. His scoring output would undoubtedly improve this season as well if he were able to return from this injury at full strength.

If the dynamic center misses more than a handful of games, it’s something that a deep T-Birds roster could overcome, but it would certainly be a huge setback as Neuls’ versatility is a valuable asset to this team.