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The Dallas Stars made several roster moves on Monday morning, the most notable of which was placing starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen on injured reserve retroactive to Saturday, Oct. 12.
Lehtonen left midway through Friday's 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets with what the team is calling a "lower body injury." There was not much evident on replays just before he left other than a shot off the mask, but he does have a history of nagging groin issues. Whether or not that is the case this time around is anyone's guess.
The good news on Lehtonen is that he's still working out on the ice, which would lead me to believe (hope) that the injury is minor and the time off is more a precautionary thing. Please be more of a precautionary thing.
Kari Lehtonen goes to IR. He will miss Tuesday and Thursday games. He's working out here in Denver on the ice before practice.
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) October 14, 2013
The Stars play arguably the two hottest teams in the west the next two games with a road game against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and a home game against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Lehtonen is eligible to come off injured reserve this weekend and could be available as soon as Saturday's road game against the Los Angeles Kings.
Because Jack Campbell was originally recalled under emergency conditions, my understanding is the Stars will have to officially call up either him or another goalie today in order to place one on the active roster for the rest of the week. I haven't seen any news of an official recall of a goalie yet, but we'll update when that does happen.
In another roster move, defenseman Aaron Rome was activated from injured reserve and loaned to the Texas Stars for a conditioning assignment. Rome has missed the entire season while recovering from a pair of off-season hip surgeries. Players are exempt from waivers while on a conditioning assignment, which cannot last for more than 14 days.
Game time will be key for Rome, who has practiced with the team for about a week now, and it will allow him the opportunity to impress the new coaching staff and try to grab a spot in the top six.
Rome can be activated because forward Chris Mueller cleared waivers and was officially assigned to the Texas Stars. Mueller played a little more than six minutes in the season opener but has been a healthy scratch ever since.
Here is the official release from the team:
Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the team has placed goaltender Kari Lehtonen on injured reserve, retroactive to the game on Oct. 11 against Winnipeg, when he suffered a lower body injury.
Dallas has also announced that it has activated defenseman Aaron Rome from injured non-roster and has been loaned on a conditioning assignment to the Texas Stars, Dallas' development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team has also assigned forward Chris Mueller to Texas.