Dec. 17: Drury’s hand surgery went well and will keep him out for at least four weeks, Brind’Amour told Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer.
Dec. 12: The Hurricanes will be without depth center Jack Drury for a while yet. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters Thursday that Drury has “has a broken something in his thumb” and will undergo surgery (via Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal). The team hasn’t yet issued a timeline for his return.
Drury left Tuesday’s win over the Sharks in the first period after blocking a shot with his hand. Brind’Amour said postgame that things weren’t looking promising for the 24-year-old, although he still needed to undergo a couple of imaging tests. Center Tyson Jost was recalled from AHL Chicago yesterday in the wake of Drury’s injury and will be on hand for tomorrow’s game against the Senators. In all likelihood, Jost will make his first appearance since Nov. 23 unless Carolina opts to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen and give Riley Stillman, who they summoned from the AHL this morning, his season debut.
A second-rounder back in 2018, Drury has slowly risen up the Hurricanes’ center depth chart over the past few years. This season, he was averaging a career-high 13:09 per game and was winning 56.4% of his draws, the highest among Carolina’s four regular centers. He had three goals and six assists for nine points through 28 games, on pace to roughly match the eight goals and 27 points he had in 74 games last year.
Now, after spending his seven games for the Canes last month suiting up on Drury’s wing, Jost will need to shift back to his natural center position for the foreseeable future. He had one goal while averaging 9:20 per game, not seeing any of Drury’s usual special teams usage.
The Hurricanes have carried as slim a roster as possible all season long, so Drury may not land on injured reserve in the coming days (or at all during his absence) unless other injuries strike and force Carolina to open up an additional roster spot. Assuming a usual recovery timeline for hand surgery, we likely won’t see Drury back in the lineup until late January.