Michael McLeod faces long injury layoff at Avangard

Michael McLeod will be out for an extended spell after leaving the ice in the second period of Avangard's opening match of the FONBET KHL season, a 0:4 defeat to Salavat Yulaev.

The Canadian Forward went down chasing a loose puck after an opponent fell, and skated off unaided before heading straight to the dressing room. Last season he was one of Avangard's most productive forwards, with 48 points (22+26) in 55 regular-season games, and 11 (1+10) in 17 play-off matches.

Head coach Guy Boucher did not hide his frustration when asked about the injury.

Boucher said the club's various injuries are unconnected — one player needed surgery after the play-offs, another arrived already carrying an operation from his previous club, one was hurt blocking a shot, and now McLeod hurt himself going for a puck. Asked whether 30 years in coaching had prepared him for a start like this, he said he had seen plenty in that time, but never this volume of injuries to key players before a season had properly begun.

With McLeod and others sidelined, Boucher said younger players and defencemen unused to heavy minutes will now have to carry a larger share of the ice time, with the injured group expected to return together around late October or early November.

Salavat Yulaev, meanwhile, sit top of the early table after the win, their only game of the campaign so far.