Kailer Yamamoto has been placed on injured reserve by the Utah Mammoth, according to a post from Chase Beardsley just now.
The timing stings for a team that sits 10-6-1 and second in the Central Division. Utah dropped a 5-4 overtime decision in Montreal on Thursday night and heads to Ottawa on Saturday.
Beardsley posted that the winger is now on injured reserve, signing off with the team's #TusksUp tag.
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Yamamoto has played 9 games this season and put up 3 goals and 4 assists. He is a +4, which is a solid mark on a team whose goal differential is only +2.
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | |
| 2026-27 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | +4 |
| Career | 383 | 76 | 91 | 167 | +34 |
The latest injury report listed him as day-to-day with an upper-body issue. The post gives no reason for the move and no timeline, so the length of his absence is an open question for now.
Head coach Andre Tourigny has been getting plenty from the top of his lineup. Logan Cooley had four points in Thursday's loss, and Nick Schmaltz added three.
What Yamamoto's absence does to Utah's depth
Yamamoto isn't a star, and nobody will pretend he is. But a winger with 7 points in 9 games is the kind of secondary scoring a team leaning on its top line can't wave off.
Utah has scored 61 goals and allowed 59, so margins are thin. Taking a contributor out of the middle of the lineup matters more in that kind of profile.
The Mammoth have also been uneven away from home, going 6-4-1 on the road. They are 5-4-1 over their last 10 and come off a loss, so there's little room to absorb a lineup hole without a clean answer.
Nothing in the post says who steps in, and that decision belongs to Tourigny and GM Bill Armstrong. Expect the answer to show up when the lineup is set in Ottawa on Saturday.
Quick hits
CALGARY FLAMES: Kevin Bahl is out with a lower body injury and won't play tonight against the Ducks, the club just announced. Another blue line absence is the last thing the Flames needed.
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BOSTON BRUINS: Mark Divver reports Mikey Eyssimont is back in the lineup after missing a game with a puck to the mouth. That's a quick turnaround, and good news for Boston.
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VANCOUVER CANUCKS: Iain MacIntyre reports that Elias Pettersson, speaking in Edmonton, pointed to a healthier Canucks environment as the reason for his resurgence. Pretty telling.
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MINNESOTA WILD: Joe Smith just sat down with former Wild coach Bruce Boudreau, and Quinn Hughes and Kirill Kaprizov are both on the menu. Wild fans will want to hear this one.
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DETROIT RED WINGS: Pierre LeBrun revealed that other teams believe the Red Wings could land a better Dylan Larkin trade outside his 10-team list. That could make the market more interesting.
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Can the Mammoth stay in the Central race without Kailer Yamamoto in the lineup?
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