Ottawa Senators veteran wing Clarke MacArthur, who has only played in 27 games in the past two years due to concussion issues, said he will take a couple weeks to re-evaluate himself for next season, according to Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen. The veteran winger, who has been dealing with post-concussions symptoms for 18 months before finally returning Apr. 4 for four regular season games and 19 playoff games, said he is excited about playing hockey again, but wants time to talk with doctors again.
MacArthur finished the playoffs with three goals and six assists, but says his neck doesn’t feel right and wants to get it checked out before committing to next season. The veteran still has three years remaining at 4.65MM and the Senators will be keeping a close eye on the results before they must submit their protection rosters for the upcoming expansion draft.
MacArthur, when healthy, is a solid third-line scorer and his presence proved useful throughout the playoffs, but the team needs him to return to his old self next year to keep the Senators success going. MacArthur had 24 goals in 2013-14 and 16 goals in the 2014-15 season.
- Arizona Coyotes winger Tobias Rieder underwent successful surgery on the ankle injury he sustained at the IIHF World Championships, tweets Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan. He is expected to be out of action for 8-12 weeks, but should be ready for training camp. The 24-year-old finished up his third season for the Coyotes, finishing with 16 goals and 18 assists.
- Currently ranked as the top prospect by many organizations in the upcoming NHL draft, center Nolan Patrick has agreed to do all the physical tests at next week’s draft combine in Buffalo, tweets The Hockey News Ryan Kennedy. Patrick, who was injured for much of the 2016-17 season in which he played in only 33 games for the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings (although he scored 20 goals in that span) is being considered for the No. 1 overall pick by the New Jersey Devils along with center Nico Hischier.