Nashville Predators Mark Borowiecki is considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The third-pair defenseman left during the first period of Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Nashville’s Twitter account confirmed his status on Saturday in the lead-up to the Predators game against the Lightning.
#Preds defenseman Mark Borowiecki will miss tonight's game and is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. #NSHvsTBL
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) March 13, 2021
Mark Borowiecki Injury Considered Week-to-Week
Borowiecki managed less than seven minutes on the ice as Nashville imploded during a 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes. He did not return to the game after the first intermission.
Nashville signed Mark Borowiecki as a free agent in the off-season and paired him alongside former Edmonton Oiler, Matt Benning. Together this year, they have been fairly mediocre statistically. While the team has a corsi edge with both players on the ice at five-on-five, they are down in expected-goal percentage (45.02%). The 31-year-old is also guilty of taking rash penalties. His 38 penalty minutes this season have resulted in five goals against the Predators’ struggling penalty kill.
What This Means Going Forward
Borowiecki’s absence adds insult to injury as Nashville’s depleted roster takes yet another hit. On Thursday night, the Predators had over 35 percent of their cap space on injured reserve. The casualties included their captain, Roman Josi, top-pair defenceman Ryan Ellis and playmaker, Matt Duchene, who has the joint-largest cap hit among Preds forwards. As a result, the roster that suited up against Carolina amounted to just $47,088,767 of the Predators cap hit (~58 percent).
Up next for the Predators is a two-game road series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Unfortunately, the roster on the backend could resemble more of an AHL lineup for the double-header starting on Saturday night. Prospect Frederic Allard will suit up for his NHL debut. A third-round pick in 2016, Allard joins Alexandre Carrier and Jeremy Davies as rookie defensemen to play for the Predators following their glut of injuries. He has 15 goals and 82 points in 188 AHL games.
Nashville (11-15-1) is having its worst season since the lockout-shortened year in 2012-13, which spelled the end of the Barry Trotz era. The team is on the verge of another seismic change, though trades have yet to materialize. However, considering the Predators’ current form, it will only be a matter of time before general manager David Poile is forced to initiate a fire sale. After all, April 12th’s trade deadline is rapidly approaching.
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