The Carolina Hurricanes are currently on a four-game losing streak, and things don’t appear to be getting any easier, as star forward Andrei Svechnikov has missed the club’s last two losses. Team reporter Walt Ruff relays word from Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, who says that Svechnikov will be out for “at least a while” as Svechnikov deals with an upper-body injury.
The 23-year-old 2018 second-overall pick is arguably the Hurricanes’ most lethal offensive weapon when healthy. A torn ACL cut his season short last year, but before the injury he had scored 23 goals and 55 points in 64 games. As Svechnikov seems set to miss a meaningful chunk of time due to this new injury, the Hurricanes will have to rely more heavily on other players to generate offense and lift the team out of the middle of the pack in terms of goals scored per game.
Some other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris has not played since a November 18th game against the Boston Bruins, though he is nearing a return to the ice. The Canadiens officially announced that Harris would be able to return to play in approximately 10 to 14 days, which is an encouraging development for the club. While Harris has just three points this season, he did have a strong rookie campaign as an intelligent blueliner with puck-moving ability. Harris’ return to the ice could cost his former college hockey teammate Jayden Struble a place in the Canadiens’ lineup, seeing as Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson aren’t going anywhere on the team’s top two pairings. Struble has played quite well since his debut, though, so one wonders if the Canadiens would sanction sending Struble back to the AHL after such a promising stretch of games.
- New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller will miss tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs for personal reasons. Head coach Peter Laviolette declined to go into more detail on the absence, disclosing simply that Miller was excused from the game for personal reasons.