Outlook for Arnott's return still foggy

Per John Glennon's update at the Tennessean:

Jason Arnott did some light skating on his own following the Predators’ practice on Friday, but said he’s doubtful for Saturday’s game against Phoenix.

Arnott is still suffering aftereffects of the big hit he took from Washington’s Shaone Morrisonn in the third period of Tuesday’s loss.

He’s officially dealing with an ``upper body injury,’’ but the concern is for a possible concussion, which generally keeps players out at least a week.

With Radek Bonk still on the shelf, that leaves David Legwand, Vern Fiddler, Jerred Smithson and Scott Nichol as the remaining centers on the roster as the team embarks on a critical four-game road trip tomorrow in Phoenix. Legwand is picking up more than his fair share of the burden, playing 26:23 in last night's loss to the Rangers.

Given Arnott's history with concussion problems, and assuming this injury is another one, this could be a season-breaker for the Preds; in order to stay in the playoff hunt, realistically the team needs to at least break even on this road trip, with four points in four games. You can pretty much write off the game in San Jose, where the Sharks are 26-3-4 at home (and yes, I know Nashville won in OT there earlier), which leaves precious little margin for error.

So what should the team do at this point? Can they do anything to keep hope alive for the playoffs?

Down on the farm, Mike Santorelli and Cal O'Reilly have seen limited action at the NHL level. O'Reilly picked up an assist in the 8-0 win over Detroit, while Santorelli failed to make an impression in a six-game stint earlier this season. Could either of them possibly provide a spark?