Vincent Iorio has had a whirlwind week.
The Capitals’ top defense prospect made his NHL debut on March 4 against the San Jose Sharks and tallied his first point the same night, a beautiful primary assist on an Alex Ovechkin goal. After playing two more NHL games, Iorio was sent back to the minors with the Hershey Bears.
Two AHL games into Iorio’s return to the Bears, the rearguard was injured early against the Providence Bruins on Sunday, March 12.
“Iorio left Sunday’s game after sustaining an upper-body injury on a hit with around 6 minutes left in the 1st period and did not return,” a Hershey Bears representative said to RMNB. “He has an upper-body injury.”
Iorio did not suit up in the second or third periods. The severity of Iorio’s injury is currently unknown. The Bears would go on to lose the game 5-3.
Hershey is off Monday, but the team will take the ice tomorrow for practice. An update is expected then.
Iorio, who rooms and is close with Capitals’ first-round pick Hendrix Lapierre, has had a breakthrough year during his rookie season in professional hockey. The slick-skating, puck-moving defenseman has 18 points (2g, 16a) in 53 AHL games, which ranks second amongst Bears rearguards. Iorio is big — six-foot-four and 200 pounds — and has a poise well beyond his years.
Headline photo: Kyle Mace/Hershey Bears
