Hurricanes Lose Conn Smythe Winner Jordan Staal to Calf Tear

The Carolina Hurricanes have spent the first week of the NHL season treating their opponents like practice cones. They are off to a flawless 4-0 start, outscoring teams by a ridiculous 22-9 margin.

But the hockey gods always demand a sacrifice, and this time they came for the captain.

"Rod Brind'Amour told reporters Staal will miss 'significant time, as long as a couple months.'"

Head coach Rod Brind'Amour told reporters that Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jordan Staal has a torn calf and will miss significant time. The current timeline has him sidelined for up to a couple of months.

A calf tear sounds like something you get trying to start a stubborn lawnmower, but for a hockey center, it is a brutal lower-body issue that completely ruins your skating stride.

Carolina has looked like an absolute buzzsaw so far, dropping seven goals on Vancouver and cruising past Philadelphia. Now they have to figure out how to replace the guy who literally just won playoff MVP and takes every crucial defensive-zone faceoff.

From a betting perspective, the Hurricanes' futures probably will not crater because their roster is deep enough to survive the autumn months. However, their nightly puck lines might get a little tighter without Staal out there suffocating the other team's top line.

Losing your emotional leader in October is obviously better than losing him in April. The real concern is whether a nagging lower-body injury turns a veteran's season into a frustrating start-and-stop affair once he actually gets cleared.

Carolina hosts the Washington Capitals next, which will be their first real test of the lineup shuffle. We are about to find out exactly how much of this undefeated start is pure roster depth, and how much was just riding the momentum of their top guy.