Still Five Out, Still No Timeline, Still Getting Closer to Camp

The same five names, the same status. Filip Gustavsson, Jonas Brodin, Zach Bogosian, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Charlie Stramel have now been out for roughly eight weeks, and nothing in the injury report has changed since I wrote about this on August 8. At some point the story stops being about the injuries themselves and starts being about what the organization knew, and when, and whether the offseason conditioning program held up its end.

The roster math is what makes this uncomfortable. Brodin and Bogosian are both defensemen, and the blue line was already thin before Brad Hunt retired two weeks ago. Gustavsson's absence leaves Jesper Wallstedt as the only goaltender who played meaningful minutes last season — there is no real backup behind him yet, a gap that existed before the injury cluster and has not been addressed in any way that shows up in the news. Eriksson Ek logged nearly 20 minutes a night last season; whatever he contributes at center, those are minutes that need to come from somewhere.

Training camps open in September. Eight weeks is a long time to be out in the summer, and the lack of any public timeline is the part that lingers. Guerin has been busy — the Coleman and Maatta acquisition, the front office hirings, Foligno signaling he wants back — but none of that matters much if five players arrive at camp underprepared or not at all.