Surgery sidelines Dvorak indefinitely

Coyotes center suffered a torn pectoral muscle

Coyotes center Christian Dvorak is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery to repair a torn pectoral, the club announced Friday.

Dvorak suffered the injury while rehabbing a separate, lower-body injury last week. The previous injury forced him to miss the last four games of last season, as well as the entirety of training camp and the beginning of this season.

Dvorak, 22, signed a six-year contract extension this offseason that is worth an annual average value of $4.45 million per season. He tallied 15 goals and 22 assists in 78 games with the Coyotes last season.

The Coyotes did not provide a timeline of when Dvorak could return to game action, but Coyotes President of Hockey Operations and General Manager John Chayka said it could force Dvorak to miss the entire season.

“We looked at our options and decided that surgery was our best option to get him back as soon as possible,” Chayka said in a conference call with media on Friday. “He had the procedure this morning and it went very well. Now it’s the road to recovery and it’ll be a number of months.

“He’s a young player and a player we envision as part of our team for a long time.”

Regardless of whether Dvorak returns at some point this season, his absence from the lineup will undoubtedly provide more opportunity for the players currently in the Coyotes’ lineup.

One such player is Dylan Strome, who has been one of the team’s few bright spots over the first several games of the season.

Propelled into No. 2 center duties due to the absence of both Dvorak and Alex Galchenyuk, Strome is one of just six Coyotes to have scored a goal this season and enters play Friday ranked third in the NHL with a 65.6 percent face-off winning percentage.

“Any time you have injuries is an opportunity for guys to step up,” Chayka said. “Every player wants an opportunity and wants to show what they can do. We’re hoping this is an opportunity for us to show our depth in the organization. But we’ll see what (those players)

Outlook: The Arizona Coyotes (2-4-0) play the third game of a four-city road trip when they visit the Winnipeg Jets (4-2-1) for a Saturday matinee game at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg. … The Jets are currently in the middle of a sixgame homestand in which they have gone 2-0-1 in the first three games. … The Jets have scored a power-play goal in each of their last three games and are 5-for-10 on the man-advantage this season. … Jets backup goaltender Laurent Brossoit is expected to make his second start of the season on Saturday; he is 1-0-0 with a 1.00 goals against average and a .977 save percentage this season. … The Jets are led in scoring by forwards Kyle Connor (four goals, one assist), Patrik Laine (three goals, two assists) and Blake Wheeler (one goal, four assists) as well as defenseman Josh Morrissey (five assists) this season.

can do. It’s up to them.”

The Coyotes could be adding reinforcements in the near future with the return of Galchenyuk expected to come soon. Now cleared for contact after rehabbing a lower-body injury, Galchenyuk has been skating with the team throughout their current four-game road trip.

Coming into the preseason, the Coyotes appeared to have a surplus of centers on their roster with Galchenyuk, Dvorak, Strome, Derek Stepan and Brad Richardson. Now, it appears the depth down the middle created by Chayka and his staff will come in handy.

“Ultimately it’s an opportunity for us to show some maturity as an organization,” Chayka said of how the team will handle the loss of Dvorak. “You’re going to have injuries but only the good organization are able to continue to play well while missing some players.

“Obviously the center position is a hard one to replace ... but I think we can build off what we’re doing here.”