- Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal has a torn calf muscle
- Rod Brind’Amour says he’ll miss one to two months
- Read below for how Carolina plans to cover his minutes
The Hurricanes are going to be without their captain for a while.
Jordan Staal has a tear in his calf and will miss one to two months, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters Tuesday, as Frank Seravalli relayed. The Conn Smythe winner was a late scratch for Sunday’s 4-1 win in Philadelphia after getting hurt in warmups.
Brind’Amour was asked about the injury and called it a fluke.
“It was just something he did in warmups. A freak thing but it is what it is. It’s going to be a long-term injury, really. It’s going to be anywhere from a month to two months, so not good news there but we’ve had a lot of injuries over the years and we’re just going to have to keep figuring it out.”
Seravalli had the news out first on X:
Staal hadn’t recorded a point through six games this season. He had 36 points in 75 regular-season games last year, then 12 points in 19 playoff games, including six goals in the Stanley Cup Final, to take the Conn Smythe.
The bigger hit is everything he does without the puck. Staal leads Carolina forwards in short-handed ice time at 2:53 a night and has taken a team-high 124 faceoffs. He also draws the toughest matchups against opposing top lines, which frees up Carolina’s scorers.
Mark Jankowski slid into Staal’s third-line spot between Nikolaj Ehlers and Jordan Martinook on Sunday and scored for the fourth straight game. Brind’Amour said the job will be shared rather than handed to one guy. “It’s not replacing them with one guy,” he said.
This is another name on a growing list. Taylor Hall is week-to-week, and Seth Jarvis is still working back from offseason shoulder surgery. Carolina hosted the Capitals on Tuesday before opening a five-game road trip in Winnipeg on Saturday.
Staal, 38, is in his 15th season with Carolina and has 499 points in 978 games with the franchise. Hurricanes.com has more on the lineup shuffle.
