The Carolina Hurricanes got some bad news on the injury front as Jordan Staal’s skating session on Monday did not go as well as expected and as a result, he is not expected to accompany the team on their West Coast trip, reports Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News and Observer.
Staal has been out of the lineup since November 27th because of a concussion. He’s in his fifth season with the Hurricanes and has nine points (5-4-9) through 21 games so far this season. In the meantime, Teuvo Teravainen will continue to fill Staal’s role as the second line center having shifted over from the left wing.
Still with Carolina, forward Elias Lindholm, who has missed the last two games with a lower body injury, practiced with a non-contact jersey today. Although he likely won’t be ready for their next game, he is expected to play at some point on the road trip.
Other injury news from around the league:
- In a series of four tweets, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun provided updates on several injured Winnipeg Jets. Leading scorer Mark Scheifele (lower body) won’t play tonight against Detroit but skated today and is progressing well. Defenseman Tyler Myers skated for the first time today since suffering a lower body injury nearly four weeks ago but their remains no timetable for his return. Center Nic Petan, who has seven points in 13 games since being recalled, is out for another couple of weeks for his lower body issue. As for right winger Joel Armia (knee), he’s expected to return sometime in mid-to-late December while center Shawn Matthias (lower body) will be out a little longer as his tentative return date is closer to early January.
- Senators forward Curtis Lazar is out indefinitely with an upper body injury suffered last night against the Penguins, notes Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen. The team announced via Twitter that Phil Varone has been recalled from their AHL affiliate in Binghamton to take his place. (Also recalled was goalie Andrew Hammond as Craig Anderson is taking another leave of absence.) Varone has 13 points in 18 minor league games this season and led all forwards in the league in preseason scoring. TSN’s Darren Dreger adds (Twitter link) that the injury isn’t believed to be too serious.
- The Devils announced (via Twitter) that they have activated right winger Beau Bennett off of injured reserve. He has missed the last three games due to a right leg laceration. To make room for him on the roster, the team assigned center John Quenneville back to Albany of the AHL.
- Predators left winger James Neal skated with teammates for the first time since suffering an upper body injury on November 25th against Winnipeg, writes Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Evidently, everything checked out well as Vingan tweets that the team has activated him off of IR and that he is expected to play tonight against Colorado.