Josh Manson Placed On Injured Reserve, Joe Piskula Called Up From San Diego

Earlier this afternoon news broke of the Anaheim Ducks recalling defenseman Joe Piskula from San Diego.

According to the AHL website's transactions. Joe Piskula was recalled by the @AnaheimDucks this morning. #StickTaps @skoolz43

— Admirals Roundtable (@adsroundtable) October 24, 2015

The recall seemed oddly timed, with the Ducks ready for game two of a five game road trip tonight against the Minnesota Wild. A quick glance at the Ducks roster looking for clues yielded this:

Looking at #NHLDucks roster page after news of Piskula's call up... Wait what, Josh Manson is on injured reserve? pic.twitter.com/9Ky59joDTI

— Anaheim Calling (@AnaheimCalling) October 24, 2015

Then, the official confirmation was released by the Orange County Register's Eric Stephens.

Blog: Ducks take another hit on blue line as defenseman Josh Manson is put on injured reserve. Joe Piskula recalled. https://t.co/J51EwX00LL

— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) October 24, 2015

With Manson now on the injured reserve list retroactive to Friday after having suffered an unspecified upper-body injury during the Ducks Thursday night game in Nashville, he is unavailable for the remainder of the road trip. Manson played 14:31 against the Predators, taking 20 shifts with just over seven minutes between his final two shifts in the third period. His last appearance came in the final three minutes of the game, and was 0:25 long.

The injury could not come at a worse time for the Ducks, who already have been scuffling while dealing with injuries to Simon Despres (out with an upper-body injury since taking a hit to the head from Colorado's Tyson Barrie, who was suspended three games as a result), as well as off-and-on availability of Clayton Stoner with both lower and upper body injuries since training camp.

Piskula has appeared in 13 games over his NHL career, beginning as a free agent signee by the Los Angeles Kings for the 2006-07 season and making his NHL debut with the club that year. Since then he has played with Calgary and Nashville, while appearing in 393 AHL games over six seasons coming in to this year.