Vrbata had 35 goals last season in 77 games for Phoenix. (Getty Images)
Vrbata had 35 goals last season in 77 games for Phoenix. (Getty Images)

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The Phoenix Coyotes have been without last season's top goal scorer Radim Vrbata since Feb. 16, and it doesn't look like he'll be coming back anytime soon.

Vrbata had been sitting out with what the Coyotes believed was a bruised foot, but X-rays showed it was a little more than that. On Monday, the team announced that his foot isn't bruised, it has a crack.

Right now there is no timeline, but you can expect he won't be back soon. In fact, Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona says Vrbata is still limping and the injury came nearly four weeks ago.

"When he feels comfortable that he can get out there and do his job, that's when he'll be back," coach Dave Tippett said.

Tippett added that it's painful for Vrbata, who has skated to varying degrees of pain with the fracture.

It's also painful for the Coyotes. Vrbata wasn't tearing things up in the goal-scoring department before his injury, but he did have four goals in 15 games to go with eight assists. He's still tied for sixth on the team in scoring, despite missing 10 games.

Last season, Vrbata had a breakthrough season at the ripe age of 30. That's when the Czech scored a career-high 35 goals and set a career-best with 62 points. His previous high in goals was 27 back in 2007-08 in his first stint with the Coyotes.

The Coyotes have done a decent job getting by without Vrbata so far. As a team, the Coyotes are 11th in the NHL in goals scored, quite the departure from what we usually see out of Tippett's teams, which historically get by on strong defense/goaltending. Still, it's a tough loss for the Coyotes and the sooner he can get back, the better.

Hopefully for him and the team, knowing what the issue is will help expedite his recovery.

On a slightly related note, the Coyotes signed 2012 first-round draft pick (No. 27 overall) Henrik Samuelsson to an entry-level contract.

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