The Silvertips have received the news on winger Dawson Leedahl, and it wasn’t what the Tips wanted to hear.
Leedahl has damage to the medial collateral ligament in his right knee and likely will need surgery which will sideline him for four-to-six months.
Leedahl suffered the injury during Saturday’s 3-2 overtime victory at Spokane. He underwent an MRI on Tuesday which showed damage, but wasn’t definitive. He had another MRI Wednesday which revealed further damage.
Leedahl said he’s going to get a second opinion, and one option is to rest for two months and hope the injury heals on its own. However, the risk there is that if it doesn’t heal he’ll still need surgery, and that will end any chance of coming back this season.
This is a tough loss for the Tips. The 18-year-old Leedahl is a key defensive forward and penalty killer whose contributions can’t be measured by the box score — he’s one of just four players on the roster who attended an NHL rookie training camp this year.
It also compromises Everett’s depth up front. The Tips were flush at forward five days ago with 14 healthy forwards, making it difficult for Everett to find playing time for everyone. But with Leedahl out and Tyler Sandhu traded to Red Deer, that leaves the Tips with just 12 forwards available. That includes 17-year-old rookie Nik Malenica, who hasn’t yet appeared in a game and was left in the stands Wednesday in favor of defenseman Carter Cochrane, who served as the 12th forward.
Everett general manager Garry Davidson said he wasn’t going to make any panic moves to address the situation, saying he would only make a move for a player he wanted, not just bring in a body. Suffice it to say the Tips are hoping to avoid any more injuries for the time being.
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