Staal to Miss Some Games

Canes general manager Jim Rutherford announced Monday that Eric Staal will miss some games due to an upper-body injury that he suffered in the team’s loss to the Sharks on  Sunday. Staal left the game after the second period and did not return for the third. Prior to this injury Staal has been a dream for fantasy owners missing just one game in his entire career.  He has played in 349 straight regular season games.

Even though he is off to a slow start,  Staal is not a player you want to drop off your team.  No timeline has been given for his return or the severity of the injury, but it sounds like its short-term.  My reccomendation is to move a more disposable player off your team in order to pick up a center to fill the void while Staal is out.

Notable centers that may be available in your league: Ryan Kesler, Tomas Plekanec, Rich Peverly, Mike Fisher, Tim Connolly, Steven Reinprecht

Staal’s injury came the same game that linemate Erik Cole returned after missing 10 games. Rutherford mentioned that defenseman Tim Gleason should return Wednesday.

Rutherford also mentioned he is looking to make changes to the team after its poor 2-8-3 start.  He  said he’d ideally like to wait until the end of the month for any major shake-up, but that the Canes’ play over the next few weeks may force him to act sooner.

Rutherford is confident in his coaching staff’s ability to turn the season around.