Nail Yakupov, Sarnia Sting right winger and No. 1 prospect for this summer’s NHL Entry Draft, will miss the remainder of the Ontario Hockey League regular season due to an upper-body injury.
The Sting have three more games remaining in the regular season, at which point Yakupov will be re-evaluated.
Yakupov needed stitches to his mouth and looked shaken up after taking a hit to the head in the second period of Saturday’s 4-0 victory over the Owen Sound Attack.
The Russian forward tried to get up on his own before falling back to the ice where he was tended to by the team trainer and doctor. He eventually left the ice on his own but did not return to the game.
Attack captain Michael Halmo, who recently signed an entry-level contract with the New York Islanders, was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the hit on the play.
Yakupov leads the Sting with 31 goals and is second on the team with 69 points in 42 games this season. He missed time earlier this season with a knee injury and served a two-game suspension for skipping the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. He also sat out Sunday’s game against the Windsor Spitfires as a result of Saturday’s hit.
