Arizona Coyotes’ Nick Schmaltz leaves season opener with upper-body injury

Arizona Coyotes center Nick Schmaltz will not be returning to Thursday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins after suffering an upper-body injury.

Schmaltz played just 2:26 of the game before he had to leave the game. There is currently no specific on-ice play that seems to have caused the injury for Schmaltz, but there will likely be an update from Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny after the game.

While there wasn’t a ton of time for Schmaltz to do anything in the Coyotes season opener against the Penguins, he found himself on the ice for a goal against as the Pens stormed to an early 3-0 lead in the first 5:10 of the game. Schmaltz’s line with Clayton Keller and Travis Boyd found themselves even on the shot attempt differential at 1-1, and were slightly behind in expected goal differential at 0-0.03, both coming at even strength. Based on line deployments so far, wingers Zack Kassian and Lawson Crouse got reps on that line in Schmaltz’s place.

It’s a tough start to the season for Schmaltz, as he was looking to build on a career year in 2021-22. He finished the season with 23 goals, 36 assists, and 59 points in 63 games, including a Coyotes franchise record seven point game in March against the Ottawa Senators. Injury problems have plagued his career so far, as he has yet to play a full 82 game season in his six season career in the NHL, although he did play all 70 games in the Coyotes 2019-20 season that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Schmaltz certainly isn’t a player you want to lose to injury, the Coyotes seem to be aiming more towards a chance at Connor Bedard in the 2023 NHL Draft than a chance for the Stanley Cup in the playoffs. They didn’t make any notable free agent signings outside of defenseman Troy Stetcher, and both trades that involved players were cap dumps instead of actual hockey trades.