Eklund Joins the List

William Eklund left against Philadelphia with a lower-body injury, and at this point Ottawa's training staff might need its own depth chart. The Senators came into these playoffs already missing Sanderson on the blue line and managing Ullmark's availability at goal. Now the forward group has a hole in it too, with Eklund — the second option at left wing by playing time — heading to the sideline at the worst possible moment.

Eklund arrived from San Jose in a trade this summer and quietly became a real piece of this roster. Losing him doesn't gut the offense the way losing Stutzle would, but it matters. The left wing position was already thin behind him, and the team's scoring has been sliding — Ottawa has averaged 2.6 goals per game over its last ten, nearly a full goal off its earlier pace. There isn't a lot of margin to absorb another subtraction.

What makes this harder is that the injuries are no longer concentrated in one area. Sanderson is the defensive anchor, Ullmark is the starting goaltender, and now Eklund is a forward contributor. Three different positions, three different problems, all at once. The organization has shown it can absorb one crisis at a time. It's being asked to absorb all of them simultaneously, in the first round.