His locker stall sits unattended. According to media reports, its full of his hockey gear and skates.
Where is Tomas Hertl?
Has he been abducted by aliens?
Hertl did not skate again on Saturday prompting questions as to the severity of his lower body injury.
Earlier this week, Czech Republic sports reporter Roman Jedlicka, the play-by-play announcer for TV NOVA Sport, tweeted early Monday evening that, according to a “very good… source, Hertl will miss the rest of the Stanley Cup Final.
When did the injury occur? Is it a long term thing? Does it require surgery to fix?
The Sharks are not talking. At least not publicly. Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer continues to list Hertl as day to day.
Hertl's absence from the starting lineup has been sorely felt. Hertl has 11 points in 20 playoff games, and scored a PPG in Game 1 of the Cup final.
Hertl had a combined five shots on goal in the first two games. He had 18 minutes TOI in Game 1 and 20:20 in Game 2, when hit two posts behind Penguins goalie Matt Murray.
His replacement in the lineup, Melker Karlsson, skated and created with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton for the start of Game 3 and was in that spot again for the start of Game 4. .
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Backes Up The Brinks, Moving Trucks https://t.co/VCdwBwuTc7 pic.twitter.com/xdWhzT4TFq
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) June 11, 2016
St. Louis Blues captain David Backes has called Clayton, Missouri his home for quite a while. Nearly ten years to be exact. Backes and his family have been embedded in the greater St. Louis community doing charity work and participating inactivities.
Is their residency status about to change?
On Friday, Blues fans took to social media to find out if the rumors are true that Backes is selling his house in Clayton. The rumost are true fueling speculation that Backes and his family are about to move to a new NHL market. Backes wil become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Blues veteran forward Troy Brouwer will also become UFA on that day.
Backes, 32, just completed his tenth season in the NHL, all with the Blues. Though he has a lot of miles on his hulking frame, Backws still adds a ton of grit, leadership and production on both sides of the puck. He would be an excellent add for a bubble team looking to make itself a legit playoff contender like Buffalo, Calgary or Edmonton. He would also add legitimacy to a bona fide Cup contender like Anaheim, NY Rangers, Tampa looking to add a hero for the postseason wars. In 79 games this season, Backes popped 21 goals and 24 assists. In 20 playoff games, he drilled home 7 goals and 7 assists.
Backes and Brouwer are repper by Newport Sports, the same agency that reps Ryan O'Reilly, Evander Kane, Erik Karlsson, Phil Kessel, Hank Lundqvist, Jordan Eberle, James Neal, Tom Hertl, and other NHL A-listers. You best believe that Backes and Brouwer will be getting new rich, multi-year UFA contract on July 1. Backes just completed the final year of his 5 year, $22.5M contract. He was a $4.5M AAV which made him one of the best value players in todays NHL, where 4-time 20 goal and 2-time 3o goal scorers earn $6M+ per season.
Backes has a ton of equity in his brand and I don't see him offering Doug Armstrong a hometown haircut to stay in St. Loo.
Backes is going to get paid, just not by the Blues who have decisions to make on UFAs Brouwer, Steve Ott, Kyle Brodziak, and Scottie Upshall. Young stars Robby Fabbri and Jaden Schwartz proved during the 2015-16 season that they are ready for additional ice time and leadership responsibilities. Schwartz is RFA and is going to strike it rich this summer. The cash strapped Blues won't have enough money left over to sign Backes, Brouwer, all the other UFAs and Schwartz.