- Jordan Staal has a torn calf and will miss one to two months
- The injury happened in warmups before Sunday’s win over the Flyers
- Read below for who fills in at center and what the Canes are dealing with
Jordan Staal is going to be out for a while.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters Tuesday that his captain has a partially torn calf and will miss one to two months. Carolina hadn’t said what the injury was when it ruled him out Sunday.
Brind’Amour was asked what happened and how it came about. The Conn Smythe winner got hurt in warmups, which Brind’Amour called “a freak thing.” Here’s how the news came out of the Hurricanes’ morning media session:
That timeline lines up with what the Hurricanes said Sunday, when they ruled Staal out for the game in Philadelphia with a lower-body injury. Our earlier story on the Staal injury had Brind’Amour hoping it wouldn’t keep him out long. It will.
Staal was not with the group at morning skate Tuesday, per team reporter Walt Ruff:
Mark Jankowski has slid into Staal’s third-line center spot, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi lines up just below him. Nicolas Deslauriers picked up about nine minutes Sunday against his former team.
Staal doesn’t have a point through six games this season. He scored 20 goals and 36 points in 75 games last year, then put up eight goals in 19 playoff games, six of them in the Stanley Cup Final against Vegas, to win the Conn Smythe. He also leads Carolina forwards in short-handed ice time at 2:53 a night and has taken a team-high 124 faceoffs.
Carolina is 5-1-1 and hosts the Capitals on Tuesday night in Alex Ovechkin’s last regular-season visit to Raleigh. Seth Jarvis is still working his way back too, so the Canes will lean on their depth at center for the next month or two.
