With Angus Crookshank Out Indefinitely, Ottawa Senators Call Up a Forward From Belleville

Jiri Smejkal has been recalled from Belleville after breaking his 14-game goal-scoring drought on the weekend.

Ottawa Senators winger Angus Crookshank was starting to look like a player who might be in the mix for a full-time bottom-six forward job this fall. And while that still may be the case, he's now about to lose some end-of-season chances to impress the club's decision-makers.

Crookshank is out with a lower-body injury that head coach Jacques Martin said Thursday will keep him out of the lineup indefinitely. In this case, with just eight games left in the Senators' season, the word "indefinitely" sounds a lot like "have a nice summer."

Crookshank's latest recall lasted just five and a half games before he was injured six shifts into Tuesday's loss to the Minnesota Wild. 

Crookshank scored one goal in the six games and got to play a couple of those on a line with Claude Giroux and Tim Stutzle – a definite sign of how well-regarded he is, positioned right near the top of the prospect pipeline.

In his place, Jiri Smejkal will get another NHL look. Smejkal has three points in his last three games in Belleville and just snapped a 14-game goalless drought over the weekend. The 27-year-old Czech rookie was excellent at Ottawa's training camp but was sent to Belleville, largely due to the Senators salary cap problems at the time, 

Smejkal has nine goals and 22 points in 45 AHL games and one assist in 12 NHL games.

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