On Thursday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Calgary Flames forward A.J. Greer left the game in a lot of pain after colliding with Columbus blueliner Jake Bean. To add insult to injury, he also took a tripping penalty on the play.

On Saturday, the Flames announced that Greer will miss eight weeks after fracturing his foot during that sequence.

Greer joined the Flames via waiver claim back on Oct. 9 from the Boston Bruins. Since arriving in Calgary, he’s bee really, really effective in his role. Playing exclusively on the left side of the fourth line, Greer has six goals and 10 points in 47 games.

An eight week absence, from the time of injury, would ballpark Greer’s availability to be around Mar. 25, two weeks after the NHL’s trade deadline. That probably precludes the Flames from entertaining offers for Greer’s services, as teams are technically allowed to trade injured players but it very rarely happens.

Speaking after Saturday’s morning skate, Flames head coach Ryan Huska commented on what the Flames lose via Greer’s absence.

As of Saturday morning, Greer was not yet on the injury reserve, but he would obviously be eligible to be placed on that list when the Flames require a roster spot. (Players on the “regular” injury reserve have to be miss a week, while players on the long-term injury reserve have to miss 24 days and 10 games; Greer’s absence would qualify him for both.)