Vegas Golden Knights’ William Carrier out indefinitely with a lower-body injury

The Vegas Golden Knights have announced that winger William Carrier will be out indefinitely with a lower-body injury.

Carrier suffered the injury late in the first period of Friday’s game against the New Jersey Devils. It’s unclear what caused the injury, but some Golden Knights reporters said that it looked like a leg injury, although that is not confirmed either.

Carrier played just 5:08 of ice time in the game, with just a hit on his stat line before he left. The Golden Knights would go on to win the game 4-3 in a shootout, with Jonathan Marchessault scoring two goals and goalie Adin Hill making 47 saves, along with four additional saves in the shootout.

It’s a big blow for Carrier, who’s having a career year with the Golden Knights. He has 16 goals, 9 assists, and 25 points, with the goals and points already being career highs for him, and he ranks fifth on the Golden Knights in goals.

A second round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2013, Carrier was traded to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the Ryan Miller trade to the Blues, where he played his rookie season before the Golden Knights selected him in the expansion draft. He’s one of just four players still on Vegas from that expansion draft, although Reilly Smith and Shea Theodore have also been on the team since their inaugural season as parts of trades during that expansion draft.

Carrier is in the third year of a four-year deal with a $1.4 million cap hit, which was 1.72% of the cap when originally signed and 1.7% now.

Rookie forward Paul Cotter subbed in for Carrier in the lineup on Friday, and will likely be the go-to option as a replacement for the time being. Cotter has 11 goals, 4 assists, and 15 points in 43 games this season.

The injuries pile on for the Golden Knights up front, with Carrier joining Mark Stone, Nolan Patrick, and Nicolas Roy on the shelf, as well as goalies Robin Lehner, Logan Thompson, and Laurent Brossoit. Vegas sits in first in the Pacific Division with a 37-19-6 record, and have points in 11 of their last 12 games.