The Carolina Hurricanes started the season without star forward Andrei Svechnikov, and they're going to have to make due without the Russian for the foreseeable future.
Canes head coach Rod Brind'Amour confirmed on Tuesday that Svechnikov would be out of action for “a while” after undergoing an MRI on Monday.
“He's going to be out probably for at least a while,” Brind’Amour said, per NHL.com's Callum Fraser. “Nothing immediate, that's for sure.”
The 23-year-old was cross checked in the lower back by Winnipeg Jets defenseman Logan Stanley in a 2-1 loss on Dec. 4. He finished the game and played two nights later against the Edmonton Oilers, a 6-1 loss to Connor McDavid's team.
Svechnikov hasn't suited up since. He missed the team's first eight games of the season as he continued to recover from knee surgery in March for a torn ACL.
Svech was one of the Hurricanes' best players last season, scoring 23 goals and 55 points in 64 games, good enough for fourth in team scoring. But it's been a different story this year; the former Muskegon Lumberjack has one goal and 11 points in 16 games in 2023-24.
It's obviously an awful blow for a Carolina team that is already struggling to win games. The Canes have lost four in a row, have dropped to 14-12-1, and sit just six points out of the Metropolitan Division basement.
Hopefully, for both player and club, Andrei Svechnikov will be able to return to the lineup as soon as possible.
Brett Pesce questionable for Hurricanes on Tuesday
The loss of Svechnikov is nothing that one player can replace, but the Canes did at least receive a bit of positive news on Tuesday. After missing Monday's practice due to an illness, Brett Pesce was back on the ice with his teammates ahead of a date with the Ottawa Senators in Canada's capital.
Pesce is questionable to play at the Canadian Tire Centre, and seems to be leaning more towards healthy as he was paired with his normal defense partner Brady Skjei during the morning skate.
“We'll see,” Brind'Amour said of Pesce's availability after the session, per Fraser. “He took the morning skate, that's good. We'll see when he gets here tonight.”
Now bracing for a lengthy Andrei Svechnikov absence, the Hurricanes could badly use a win — with or without Pesce — on Tuesday night.
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