CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The sigh of relief you hear might be coming from the Eastlink Centre.
The Charlottetown Islanders learned Wednesday night German forward Nikita Alexandrov sustained a bruised shoulder during a rookie tournament game with the St. Louis Blues. He is expected to remain in St. Louis, Mo., until he is medically cleared to play.
Islanders’ head coach and general manager Jim Hulton said a shoulder injury could lead to surgery for young drafted prospects.
“If there’s any damage at all, they’ll operate,” he said, noting the NHL teams are rightfully looking at the next decade of the player’s career.
Hulton speaks from experience.
“We watched it a couple of years ago when Daniel (Sprong) got hurt,” he said.
Sprong had surgery and missed half a season, rejoining the Islanders in January 2017.
Hulton said he thought of Sprong when he heard of Alexandrov’s shoulder injury.
“To hear it was only a grade 1 and is a bruise is the best we could have hoped for,” he said.
Alexandrov was second on the Islanders in 2017-18 with 27 goals and 61 points.
