While any news about the horrible series of injuries that befell Dallas last night was always going to be mixed at best, the Stars received some clarification about how much time Tyler Seguin will miss after suffering what looks like a knee/leg injury from the Dmitry Kulikov hit last night:
Update: While original reports said 2-4 weeks, the Stars have updated that to 3-6 weeks.
Dallas Stars have updated the timeline on Tyler Seguin being out to 3-6 weeks.
— Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) February 14, 2015
Note: For what it’s worth, the injury was rumored to be an MCL sprain, although Ruff simply said “knee.”
This would put Seguin in line to return just after the March 2nd trade deadline at the earliest (more on this later today). Dmitry Kulikov has been offered an in-person hearing for his hit last night, and one wonders if he will miss a similar amount of time after the league doles out its punishment. Regardless, the Stars are going to have to rely heavily on Jason Spezza until Seguin returns at what we hope will be 100-percent health.
Meanwhile, some better news was received regarding Ales Hemsky, who is having some sort of medical procedure done today according to Mark Stepneski:
On Ales Hemsky (lower body), he is seeing doctor today and having a procedure. Could be back early next week.
— Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) February 14, 2015
If Hemsky is able to return soon after the weekend, his presence would be a sight for sore eyes (and many other sore body parts, for that matter) for a team that can ill-afford to lose any further offensive production during this critical stretch.
Finally, there was also some relatively good news on Patrick Eaves, who suffered a concussion as we’ve heard, but was revealed to have suffered no bone damage from the deflected shot he took in the head last night:
On Patrick Eaves, scans were negative, no fractures. He’s out with a concussion.
— Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) February 14, 2015
Given the fact that Eaves missed over a year with a concussion from November 2011 to January 2013, all hopes right now are directed toward Eaves’s personal health and full recovery more than anything else. Brain injuries are about as scary as it gets, and we wish Eaves all the best for a speedy return to normalcy. If he is able to play again this season, that would be a huge bonus for a team that has needed him every game he’s been able to play this year.