Coyotes shut down Hjalmarsson with lower-body injury

The Arizona Coyotes' blue line has taken another hit.

Already without defenseman Jason Demers for the remainder of the season, the Coyotes announced on Monday that blue-liner Niklas Hjalmarsson will not play in the team's final seven games due to a lower-body injury.

Hjalmarsson sustained the injury against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and sat out Saturday's contest against the Florida Panthers.

It's been an injury-riddled campaign for the first-year Coyote, who earlier this season missed a 10-game stretch with an upper-body injury. He then returned for five games before missing the next 16 contests due to another upper-body ailment.

The 30-year-old has one season remaining on his contract, carrying a $4.1-million salary cap hit.

Arizona acquired Hjalmarsson from the Chicago Blackhawks last offseason for defenseman Connor Murphy and forward Laurent Dauphin.

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