Veteran D-man Bryce Salvador has yet to play a game this season for the New Jersey Devils as he continues to battle a concussion.

Salvador did participate in Devils training camp and dressed for a few pre-season games but the symptoms related to a Cochlear Concussions have sidelined him for the entire season. He was battling the inner ear injury prior to this season and suffered a setback during exhibition play.

Sources tell me Salvador will not play the rest of this season as he also waits for the optic nerve to heal and eventually becomes free of symptoms related to his head injury.

Salvador has one year remaining on his contract after this season and I’m told he is planning on playing in 2011-2012. Hopefully the time off will allow Salavador to heal and begin training this summer as normal. Once he's free of symptoms he will likely see a specialist in Denver in hopes of being cleared to begin training.

The Devils have definitely missed his services this summer as Salvador has always been a very underrated defenseman. He’s been a stabilizing presence on every NHL team he’s played for and can shutdown the opposition’s best players.

Our thoughts are with one of the better people in the game as he continues to deal with a serious injury. It goes without saying we look forward to seeing Salvador back on the ice where he belongs.

The Manitoba native was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1994 and broke into the NHL back in 2000. He’s played more than 600 career games.

More to come,
Andy Strickland
strickland.andy@gmail.com