Mikkel Boedker injured his spleen in the Coyotes' 4-3, shootout loss at Winnipeg on Sunday. He had successful surgery to remove the spleen that night and is recovering, Coyotes general manager Don Maloney confirmed.
Maloney said there would be no further update this time. Boedker is expected to miss four to six weeks and could return to the Valley in the next few days. Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said Tuesday that Boedker was injured in the second period against the Jets and tried to play through the injury, "but he didn't feel right."
Boedker was in the midst of one of the hottest stretches of his career. Although he went pointless in the first game of the road trip -- a 3-1 loss at Minnesota -- he had five goals (on six shots) and six points in his previous four games.
"He's a good offensive player and it just seems like he's playing with a lot of confidence right now," Tippett told FOX Sports Arizona's Todd Walsh. "He'll certainly be missed out of our lineup... It's funny how it goes. We've been pushing people to start scoring more, other than him, and now it's a necessity with him gone."
#Coyotes Captain Shane Doan on training staff and how they responded to Boedker injury Chirbit: [Audio] Shane Doan http://t.co/Q3eRt0mzgl
— Todd Walsh (@ToddWalsh) January 20, 2015
#Coyotes D OEL on playing without his pal M. Boedker and heading to NHL All Star game Chirbit: [Audio] OEL http://t.co/jNpng8w3rE
— Todd Walsh (@ToddWalsh) January 20, 2015
Boedker will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season and can become an unrestricted free agent the following season. He signed a two-year, $5.1 million deal in June as a restricted free agent.
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