Serious injury for Trevor Motte confirmed after hit from Erik Karlsson.

Fans in Vancouver were already upset about the situation surrounding Vancouver Canucks center Tyler Motte, and the latest development on that front will unfortunately only add to those frustrations. 

Early this week the Vancouver Canucks announced that they would be placing Motte on injured reserve following an ugly looking hit he took courtesy of San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson. The designation to injured reserve meant that Motte would be out for at least a week, however we now know that he will miss significantly more time than that. According to an official announcement from the Canucks organization, Motte will now miss a whopping four to six weeks of action as a result of this injury, head coach Travis Green confirmed the news on Saturday.

Although I would have expected Motte's head to be the source of the injury here, the Canucks are reporting that a shoulder injury is the cause of Motte's extended absence. Motte was injured when he and the aforementioned Erik Karlsson engaged in a race for the puck that ended in a hit along the boards from Karlsson. Karlsson appeared to be riding Motte into the boards when the 24 year old Canucks forward leaned forward to reach for the puck, resulting in Karlsson's forearm driving Motte's head into the glass and the boards. This was the source of the frustration for the Canucks fanbase, although some prominent hockey analysts like TSN's Bob McKenzie defend the National Hockey League's decision not to discipline Karlsson for the hit. 

As a result of those optics many, including myself, suspected that a concussion would be what kept Motte out for the foreseeable future. It may very well be that a concussion could still be a factor here, but perhaps thankfully it seems now like his shoulder may have absorbed the majority of the impact from the hit. That will of course be of little comfort for Motte who was having himself a decent season with the Canucks, appearing in 24 games and recording 3 goals and 2 assists for a combined 5 points in the 2019 - 2020 NHL regular season. We hope he makes a full and speedy recovery from all of his injuries.