It will be a long time before Arizona gets to see Dave Bolland suit up for the team, writes Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. Bolland is dealing with a pair of significant injuries, one to his ankle and the other his back. The ankle injury was sustained during his time with Toronto in 2013 but requires a lot of daily maintenance and the back issue is preventing that maintenance from happening. Bolland’s agent, Anton Thun, commented about the process:
“There is a vertebra that is pinching a nerve so it’s not sending an electrical signal down to the ankle to provide that impulse to activate. Until his back is fully healed, it’s difficult to rehab the ankle. There’s nothing nefarious about this. It’s just a long process.”
While the Coyotes have assumed the remaining three years of Bolland’s deal which carries a cap hit of $5.5MM as part of their acquisition of prospect Lawson Crouse, he will be placed on Long-Term Injury Reserve to start the season; as a result, they will only wind up being responsible for 20% of his actual salary.
More Coyotes notes from Morgan’s column:
- RFA winger Tobias Rieder will participate in the World Cup after securing an alternative form of insurance. (Other RFA’s such as Johnny Gaudreau and Jacob Trouba are also expected to do so in order to play.) While the impasse has led some to wonder if GM John Chayka may wind up moving the 23 year old, a league source tells Morgan that there is no chance that they trade him. Rieder is currently participating in an Olympic qualification tournament and had a goal and an assist in a 5-0 victory for Germany over Japan earlier today.
- Arizona has added six people to their hockey operations department recently, including a trio of scouts and a new Director of Statistical Science.
- While many teams are expected to bring in players on tryout deals for training camp, the Coyotes aren’t planning to add anyone via that route at this time. You can keep track of who is trying out where with our Invite Tracker.