Comtois out 6 weeks after hand surgery

Max Comtois will be sidelined for six weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a small bone in his right hand, the Ducks said Friday. He has already been sidelined for three games and could sit out as many as 19 more if he returns to the lineup as scheduled by Dec. 31.

Comtois, a 22-year-old left wing, departed practice early in obvious distress Nov. 13 and sat out the next three games. The Ducks placed Comtois on injured reserve because of what they termed an upper-body injury before Tuesday’s victory over the Washington Capitals.

After a breakout season in which he led the Ducks with 16 goals and 33 points, Comtois has had a rocky start to 2021-22. He has one point, an assist, in 13 games, and was scratched from the lineup twice. In addition, he has been dropped from the first line to start the season to the third.

Rookie Mason McTavish replaced

Monday: Ducks at Predators, 5p.m. BSSC

Comtois as the third-line left wing for the past three games, joining center Isac Lundestrom and right wing Jakob Silfverberg. McTavish could be replaced by right wing Rickard Rakell, who is nearing a return to the lineup from an upper-body injury that’s sidelined him for 10 games.

Groulx reassigned

The Ducks sent rookie center Bo Groulx to their AHL team, the San Diego Gulls. Groulx had one goal and two assists in 15 games after making the Ducks’ openingnight roster. He recorded his first goal and assist in the NHL during a victory Nov. 7 over the St. Louis Blues. Groulx, 21, had 10 goals and 19 assists in 42 games with the Gulls during the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season, his first in the NHL after a stellar career in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Ducks drafted him in the second round in 2018 (54th overall).