Washington Capitals’ prospect Benton Maass was injured in a scary play Friday night in Durham, New Hampshire. Maass, a junior defenseman for the University of New Hampshire, was driven into the boards late in a game against #19 Miami University. 

The play happened in the waning seconds of overtime in Friday’s game against Miami University. Maass was chasing down a puck that was dumped in the Wildcats end. Maass was subsequently knocked into the boards by a Miami player, with both players falling to the ice.

The Miami player, Karch Bachman (a 5th round pick of the Florida Panthers) was called for a boarding penalty. Both Maass and Bachman would eventually leave the ice under their own power.

The team is calling it an “upper body” injury. In the press conference after the game on Saturday night, which UNH won 4-1 over Miami, head coach Mike Souza said: “It’s safe to say that we’re going to be without Benton for a little bit with an upper body injury.”

In a press conference on Wednesday, November 28, Souza said “We’re going to be without Benton for sure until Christmas, at the earliest.  So through the next four games (i.e., home-and-home against Providence this weekend and another one against Dartmouth Dec. 7th/8th) I don’t think you’ll see him.”

As a Freshman, the 6’-2” Maass Played in all 36 games in the 2017-2018 season. He registered  four goals and 13 assists for 17 points, which was tied for third in assists on the Wildcats. Maass ranked third in blocked shots on the Wildcats with 44.

Maass, 20, was a sixth round draft pick (#182 overall) by the Capitals in the 2017 NHL entry draft.

By Jon Sorensen