Injury Update: Will The Ottawa Senators Have To Push For A Playoff Spot Without Brady Tkachuk?

For his role in turning the Ottawa Senators’ season around, head coach Travis Green may soon find himself in the running for the Jack Adams Award. However, one area where Green has not particularly excelled this season is being transparent about injuries. That's all by design, of course.

When asked about injuries, Green tends to downplay the situation, often playing the "nothing to see here" card.

Take goalie Linus Ullmark, for example. In October, when Ullmark missed practice, Green called it a "maintenance day." Ullmark would go on to need 13 more “maintenance days” before returning to action. Either Green is being tactical, not wanting to show any cards he doesn't have to, or he's simply bad at predicting injury timelines.

We’re strongly inclined to believe it’s the former.

Now, with team captain Brady Tkachuk set to miss his second straight game on Thursday night due to what’s being described as an upper-body injury, everything should be taken with a grain of salt.

After missing the game against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday, Green said, "That’s part of the NHL. You’re going to lose guys, and hopefully, he’s only out for a game."

On Thursday morning, Green announced there was no update on Tkachuk: "Still day-to-day," Green said.

"He wants to play more than I want him to play. And (I want him to play) a lot. So, he'll play as soon as he's ready."

Will that be on Saturday night when the Florida Panthers visit? Or will the battle be Tkachuk-less for the first time in recent memory? Brother Matthew is also out of Florida’s lineup and might not be back until the start of the playoffs. It's likely to be one of those magical comebacks that align perfectly with Game 1 of the post-season. Though Florida hasn't clinched yet, it's just a formality.

But the Senators still have work to do, and seeing their playoff lead cut from seven to five points this week has begun to cast the first little signs of doubt on things. Being without Tkachuk again on Thursday, and maybe longer, casts a little more.

“Yeah, obviously when you're missing one of your best players, other guys have got to pick up the slack,” winger Drake Batherson told the media on Thursday morning. “There aren't many guys in the league who can do what he does, but we’ve got to try to fill those gaps. Like you said, being physical, hard to play against. I think the guys are excited for tonight's game, and we’ll try to do that.”

But what if Tkachuk’s "day-to-day" turns into two weeks, the same way Ullmark's maintenance day stretched on? That would be far from ideal for the Senators, whose regular season ends two weeks from tonight.

Could they clinch a playoff spot without Tkachuk? At this stage, the answer remains yes. But it's a challenge they'd prefer to avoid.