(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

UPDATE (8:45 AM) – The Golden Knights announced William Karlsson is now week-to-week with a lower-body injury. He has been placed on IR.

ORIGINAL STORY: On Tuesday’s practice at City National Arena three Golden Knights forwards were missing from the group. Cole Schwindt, who missed the last game, was characterized as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Brett Howden was said to be out with an illness that may or may not keep him out of tonight’s game, and William Karlsson who was described as taking a maintenance day.

Cassidy said Karlsson is expected to be on the plane to St. Louis which would indicate he’s ready to play and whatever is ailing him is not overly serious. However, some ominous news was dropped by Elliotte Friedman in this week’s edition of 32 Thoughts.

Now there is concern that whatever lingering injury is bothering William Karlsson could cause him to miss the Four Nations Face-Off. We should get clarity soon. Hopefully, everything works out for him. –Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet.ca

Karlsson suffered an injury early in Training Camp which kept him off the ice for nearly a month from September 24th to October 21st. He didn’t see his first game action this season until Vegas’ 9th game of the season on October 26th. He has, however, played in every single game since, with the exception of one game in which he missed due to the birth of his second son.

The standout center’s production has been down this season, scoring just 18 points in his 38 games. He’s been held pointless in the last seven games (coinciding with the beginning of VGK’s 1-5-1 stretch) and he hasn’t hit the back of the net since December 21st, 14 games ago.

Karlsson’s continued inclusion in the faceoff circle likely indicates that this injury is different from the hamstring that hampered him in last year’s playoff series vs Dallas.

Team Sweden’s first game at the 4 Nations Face-off is still 20 days away. The fact that Karlsson’s injury is serious enough to potentially cause him to miss that tournament is certainly something worth monitoring for a Golden Knights team that misses his consistent production.