While the Coyotes lost a key player on Wednesday, they are also getting two players back.
Per PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan, Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny said he expects forwards Matias Maccelli and Lawson Crouse to play against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday evening.
The two players have both missed multiple games while recovering from injuries. Maccelli hasn’t played since Dec. 23 while dealing with a lower-body injury while Crouse has been out with an upper-body injury since Jan. 17.
The positive news on Crouse and Maccelli came in the wake of Morgan reporting that Coyotes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere will miss the next four to six weeks with an upper-body injury.
The Coyotes originally selected Maccelli in the fourth round (No. 98 overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft. The 22-year-old winger has 22 points in 30 games with the Coyotes this season and, despite his long absence, still ranks third among all rookies with 19 assists.
Crouse, 25, is in the first season of the five-year, $4.3 million AAV contract he signed with the Coyotes on August 8, 2022. The former Florida Panthers prospect is in the midst of a career-best season in Arizona, having scored 16 goals and 27 points in 43 games to date.
After a respectable start to the 2022–23 season, the Coyotes have lost 12 of their last 14 games and currently sit just three points out of last place in the entire NHL. They’ll take on the Blues at 7:00 p.m. MT on Thursday.
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