LAS VEGAS – The struggling Vegas Golden Knights have encountered further challenges with the announcement that center William Karlsson is sidelined for an undetermined duration due to a lower-body injury.

“We’ll monitor the situation closely,” Coach Bruce Cassidy stated. “His absence leaves a gap in our roster, but we’ve managed through similar obstacles earlier this season. This will also create an opportunity for other players to step up.”

To fill the void left by Karlsson, the team has brought up Tanner Laczynski and Brendan Brisson from their American Hockey League affiliate located in Henderson, Nevada.

At 32 years old, Karlsson has tallied seven goals and 11 assists across 38 games this season, which is significantly below his previous year’s average of 30 goals and 30 assists. Remarkably, he has not registered a point in his last seven appearances.

Going into Thursday’s matchup against St. Louis, the Golden Knights were in first place in the Pacific Division with 62 points. However, their recent performance has been dismal, recording only one win, five losses, and one overtime loss in their last seven games, allowing the Edmonton Oilers to close in within just one point.

Injuries have been a recurring issue for Karlsson over the last few years, as he has played in 70 or fewer games in four of the last five seasons; he did manage to compete in all 82 games two seasons ago.

This season, Karlsson also missed the first eight games due to a hamstring injury sustained during the playoffs last year.

Forward Victor Olofsson commented on the impact of losing Karlsson, stating, “It’s clearly a significant setback for us. This means other players need to rise to the occasion and shoulder more responsibility. Throughout the year, we’ve managed to maintain our performance even when players have been missing. We need to replicate that success.”