The Anaheim Ducks will head into the 2013-14 season with some serious health concerns.
On Monday, the club placed four key players -- Jakob Silfverberg, Emerson Etem, Luca Sbisa and Sheldon Souray -- on injured reserve, throwing a major wrench into the lineup for Wednesday’s season opener at Colorado.
Souray, 37, could be out until January with torn wrist ligaments suffered in August. He’s the only one of the four expected to be out long-term.
Silfverberg, 22, and Etem, 21, both missed time during training camp with lower-body and leg injuries, respectively. Neither practiced much, if at all, over the last two weeks.
Sbisa, 23, hurt his ankle in a preseason game against Phoenix and was originally thought to be out for two weeks. Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau said the Swiss defenseman was questionable for the season opener, but that status now appears in doubt.
As such, the Ducks will head into Colorado with something of a makeshift lineup. Newly acquired forward Matthieu Perreault will likely play a significant role right from the get-go and the likes of Hampus Lindholm, Peter Holland, Patrick Maroon and Devante Smith-Pelly will be with the Ducks to open the season.