Reign lose MacDermid ‘probably a couple weeks’ due to upper-body injury

The Reign have lost a valuable top-4 blue liner with just eight games remaining in their regular season schedule.

Kurtis MacDermid, the burly 6-foot-5, 208-pound defenseman, will be out an extended period of time due to an upper-body injury suffered on Friday night against San Antonio. It’s unclear when the injury occurred, but MacDermid was called for kneeing in the first period, which resulted in him fighting Duncan Siemens moments later. After that he was often targeted the rest of the contest by the Rampage.

MacDermid, who turned 23 on Saturday, missed the 2-0 win over the Rampage, just the second time he’s missed a game all season.

“He’s got an upper-body injury,” Reign head coach Mike Stothers said after Saturday’s game. “He’ll be probably a couple weeks.

“That’s a tough one and that’s a tough man. Hard to keep him out of the lineup.”

MacDermid plays with an intimidating edge, but is also capable puck mover and a crucial penalty killer who plays big minutes every game. Going into Saturday he led the AHL in major penalties with nine and minors with 40. He also has 20 points (6-14=20) in his sophomore season with Ontario.

His absence leaves the Reign many less-experienced players including rookies Alex Lintuniemi, Damir Sharipzianov and Alexx Privitera. Zac Leslie is in his second season with the Reign as well and has been a constant in the lineup after battling injuries a season ago. With Zach Trotman (upper-body) out the majority of the season, the Reign have just two veterans on the back end in Vincent LoVerde and Cameron Schilling.

MacDermid, a native of Sauble Beach, Ontario, Canada, was undrafted and signed by the Kings to an entry-level deal in 2012.