Hurricanes’ Jalen Chatfield out vs. Blackhawks with upper-body injury

Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield is out for the team’s Monday night matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks, according to the club.

The injury may have been sustained during the Hurricanes’ game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night. During the third period, Golden Knights’ forward Ivan Barbashev laid a big hit on the Carolina defender. He was slow to get up after taking the bump.

The 27-year-old defenseman has five goals and nine assists for 14 points in 49 games with the Hurricanes this season. It’s his third year with the organization, during which he’s produced 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points in 143 games. Before joining Carolina, Chatfield spent four seasons with the Vancouver Canucks’ organization, spending three of them with their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, before suiting up for 14 games with the Canucks in the 2020-21 season.

He spent the majority of the 2021-22 season with the Chicago Wolves, where he helped the club win a Calder Cup.

The product of Ypsilanti, Mi., played three full seasons with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, scoring 19 goals and 67 assists for 86 points during his junior career. He helped the Spitfires win the Memorial Cup in 2016-17.

The Hurricanes are 32-17-5 with 69 points, second in the Metropolitan Division. Going into Monday night, they’ve won two straight and are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games.