Carolina’s early-season margin for error just got thinner.
Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal will miss 1-2 months with a partially torn calf muscle, coach Rod Brind’Amour said Tuesday. Staal, the reigning playoff MVP, was hurt during pregame warmups Sunday at Philadelphia.
“It was just something he did in warmup: a freaky thing, but it is what it is,” Brind'Amour said following his team's morning skate. “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.”
The loss lands hard for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who are already without winger Seth Jarvis to start the season after shoulder surgery.
Staal was central to Carolina’s title run, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy after scoring six goals in the final, winning 55% of his faceoffs and delivering shutdown defense against some of the NHL’s top players.
“He gets the tough matchups every night,” Brind'Amour said. “No hiding that now. We’re all going to have to step up a little more with those two guys out, in particular.”
Jesperi Kotkaniemi is expected to slide into Staal’s spot in the lineup, and the Hurricanes are also expected to bring up a forward from the minors.
“When you have guys out that we have - high-end top players that do so much for your team - you’re not replacing them with one guy,” Brind'Amour said. “It’s kind of sharing the duties. With Jarvy out, we’ve had to do that, and now with Jordo out we’re going to have to figure that out, as well.”
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