Utah places Nick Bjugstad on injured reserve with upper-body injury

On Thursday, the Utah Hockey Club announced that forward Nick Bjugstad has been placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

Bjugstad is considered day-to-day.

Bjugstad has been out of the lineup since March 1. He missed practice on Tuesday due to a reported illness.

Given that he was placed on IR on Thursday, Bjugstad is ineligible to return to the lineup until next Friday, when Utah visits the Seattle Kraken.

It will not be the first time the 32-year-old has missed time this season due to an upper-body injury. He missed the first eight games of the 2024-25 season after suffering an ailment prior to training camp getting underway.

In the 53 games he has appeared in this year, Bjugstad has scored five goals and 10 assists for 15 points. He has registered a plus/minus of -9 while averaging 12:39 of ice time.

His production is a little off the scoring pace that led him to post 22 goals and 45 points in 78 games last year, when Utah was known as the Arizona Coyotes. It was the third time in his 11-year NHL career that he reached the 40-point mark.

In 747 career appearances, which saw him make stops with the Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild and Edmonton Oilers, the Minneapolis native has scored 154 goals and 172 assists for 326 points. He’s also posted eight points in 27 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

It will be interesting to see what Utah does with the NHL Trade Deadline coming up on Friday. Even though the team had limited expectations heading into its first season in Salt Lake City, Utah (27-25-9) is within striking distance of a playoff spot. UHC is sixth in the Central Division, four points back of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.