Brian Rolston out 4-6 weeks
Depending how you want to look at it, the New Jersey Devils received some bad and good news regarding the injury status of veteran forward Brian Rolston.
The Devils announced on Wednesday following their 1-0 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres that Rolston will be out of the line-up four-to-six weeks to repair a sports hernia. Rolston
will undergo surgery on Thursday. Rolston has already missed the Devils' last two games suffering from groin stiffness.
"It's unfortunate because I thought Brian had a very good training camp," Devils coach John MacLean said. "He had a lot of jump and was playing really well. It's just an unfortunate situation."
The Devils will now be able to place Rolston on long-term injury reserve freeing up much-needed cap space. Unable to call up any players from the minors, the Devils have come under a lot
of criticism for only dressing 17 skaters on Monday when they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1. On Wednesday, the Devils dressed only 16 skaters against the Sabres, as any call-ups would have put them over the National Hockey League’s salary cap. The NHL’s
minimum roster number is 18 skaters. The NHL and NHL Players Association are currently investigating the matter.
With Rolston on injury reserve, the Devils will free up $5 million in cap space, which will enable them to call up players from their American Hockey League team, the Albany Devils. Defenceman
Anton Volchenkov, who suffered a broken nose blocking a slapshot on Saturday against the Washington Capitals, is also close to returning to the Devils' line-up.
Rolston scored 20 goals for the Devils last season and tallied 37 points in 80 games. Originally drafted by the Devils with the 11th overall pick in 1991, the 16-year veteran
has also spent time with the Colorado Avalanche, Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild. The Devils reacquired Rolston in 2008 signing him as an unrestricted free agent.
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