Predators’ Mark Jankowski out week-to-week with upper-body injury

Nashville Predators center Mark Jankowski will be sidelined on a week-to-week basis due to an upper-body injury, reports Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean.

Facing the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, Jankowski left midway through the first period and did not return following a fight with Wild left winger Marcus Foligno.

Skating in his third season with the Predators, the veteran forward has made 37 appearances in which he has registered three goals and five assists for eight points with 15 penalty minutes. Jankowski split last season between the Predators and the club’s minor-league affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. With the Predators, Jankowski put up 15 points in 32 games, while his time in the AHL saw him play 40 games, registering 15 goals with 32 assists to finish third in team scoring with 47 points.

Originally chosen 21st overall by the Calgary Flames in the 2012 NHL Draft, Jankowski has seen 391 career contests counting stops with the Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, and Predators in which he has tallied 59 goals and 56 assists for 115 points.

The 30-year-old Hamilton, Ont., native has seen significant playing time at the AHL level, where through six seasons and 159 total games he has posted 64 goals and 90 assists for 154 points. In 2016-17, as part of the Flames’ farm club, Jankowski led all AHL freshmen with 27 goals as part of a 56-point rookie campaign.

Per PuckPedia, Jankowski is in the first year of a two-year agreement that carries an $800,000 annual average value.

For the Predators, the club is in the midst of a three-game win streak and will look to make it four straight when it returns to the ice Tuesday to take on the San Jose Sharks. On the season, the Predators sit 16-22-7 and 12 points back of the Flames for the final wildcard position in the Western Conference.