Arizona Coyotes Jordan Oesterle in Concussion Protocol
The Arizona Coyotes announced that defenceman Jordan Oesterle is sidelined indefinitely with an upper-body injury. He is under the NHL concussion protocol, which is always difficult to predict a timetable for a player’s return to action.
Jordan Oesterle just walked through the hallway outside the locker room with a smile on his face. Rick Tocchet confirmed he is in the concussion protocol but he feels better today; still a bit dizzy. The plan is to recall a D-man after Tucson’s game tonight. Not sure who yet.
— Craig Morgan (@craigsmorgan) October 18, 2019
Jordan Oesterle Injured
In the Nashville Predators home game on Thursday night, Oesterle was hit in the back of the head off of a rocket of a shot from the stick of Ryan Ellis just 17 seconds into the game. The Coyotes were forced to play with five defencemen for the rest of the game.
So far this season, Oesterle is scoreless and has two assists for two points to go along with two minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 51.7 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of 0.4.
Over his six-year NHL career, Oesterle has played for the Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, and Arizona Coyotes. He has 11 goals and 32 assists for 43 career points in 157 career games. He was not drafted by an NHL team. The native of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, opted to stay in-state after not being selected in the NHL Draft and played three seasons at Western Michigan University.
What This Means for the Future
This means the Arizona Coyotes are hurting on the blueline. They already lost D-man Niklas Hjalmarsson who has a fractured tibia when he blocked a shot. The team recalled Kyle Capobianco to fill the void on the blueline. Hjalmarsson is expected to miss three months of play due to his injury.
Oesterle will miss at least two games from his injury but according to CBSsports.com, he could be ready to play again on Tuesday. In the meantime, the Coyotes will use Russian defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin to have an adequate number of defencemen available.
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