Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal out at least a month with calf tear

The Carolina Hurricanes will be without their captain for the next little while.

On Tuesday, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour revealed that center Jordan Staal will miss the next one to two months with a tear in his calf.

The injury occured during warmups prior to Carolina’s 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

Staal, 38, has yet to record a point in six games played this season. Last season, he had 20 goals and 16 assists for 36 points in 75 games. He then contributed eight goals and four assists for 12 points in 19 postseason games en route to the Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Selected second overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2006 NHL Entry Draft, the Thunder Bay, Ontario native spent his first six NHL seasons with the Penguins, winning the Stanley Cup in 2009. He had his career-best campaign with Pittsburgh in the 2011-12 season, when he put up 25 goals and 25 assists for 50 points in just 62 games.

Ahead of the 2012-13 season, Staal was traded to the Hurricanes in exchange for forward Brandon Sutter, defenseman Brian Dumoulin, and the eighth overall pick in the 2012 Draft. He is now in his 15th season in Carolina, including his ninth as the team’s captain, and has helped the Hurricanes reach the playoffs in each of the past eight seasons. He has played a total of 978 career regular season games with Carolina, notching 198 goals and 301 assists for 499 points.

Staal is in the final season of a four-year, $11.68 million contract with the Hurricanes, but signed a one-year, $4.9 million extension in September that will keep him in Carolina through the 2027-28 season.

The Hurricanes will host the Washington Capitals on Tuesday before kicking off a five-game road trip against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.