To be honest, a few 5-10 game injuries might even be a blessing in disguise. When you've got no choice but to sink or swim with who you've got, it gives the healthy players a chance to work through some struggles and come out the other side better and more confident. Look at Monahan's sophomore year. When Stajan, Backlund, and Colborne were all injured, we had no choice but to lean on him in a defensive role, and his defensive game grew massively.
If Tkachuk misses some time, for example, it's not crazy to think someone like Mangiapane, Klimchuk, or Dube could step in and have a few strong games. When Tkachuk comes back, now we've got more depth than we did a few weeks earlier.
I'm confident we can weather a few injuries. We've been able to win games in the past with a mediocre forward group by leaning on a single D pairing and one or two lines that can drive play. If we have a rash of injuries, we've got enough good players that the healthy ones should be able to do the same thing. Plus, Gulutzan's mentality of spreading the ice time evenly should keep our key players fairly fresh, so if we had Giordano injured, Brodie should be able to handle a few weeks of 30 minutes per night. Or if Backlund goes down, Monahan, Stajan, and Bennett can pick up the slack.
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