Metro Notes: Hurricanes, Rempe, Trocheck

The Carolina Hurricanes issued several injury updates yesterday, via team reporter Walt Ruff. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicated that injured defenseman K’Andre Miller is considered “more day-to-day” than out long-term, while injured forwards Eric Robinson and William Carrier “won’t be coming back anytime soon.” Miller and Carrier are managing lower-body injuries, while Robinson is dealing with an upper-body ailment. Miller last played Oct. 20 against the Vegas Golden Knights, while both Carrier and Robinson last played Oct. 23.

The Hurricanes have gotten off to an exceptional start to their 2025-26 campaign, but these injuries threaten their significant positive momentum. Carolina dropped yesterday’s contest against the Stars by a 3-2 score. The loss of the aforementioned trio of players, combined with other injuries to Shayne Gostisbehere, Jaccob Slavin, and Pyotr Kochetkov, has tested Carolina’s depth to an extreme degree very early into this season. As a result of these absences, the Hurricanes have been forced to rely on players with little NHL experience to fill roles in their lineup: call-ups Joel Nystrom, Bradly Nadeau, and Charles-Alexis Legault had just three games of NHL experience combined before the start of 2025-26.

Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

• Injured New York Rangers pivot Vincent Trocheck isn’t a candidate to return any time soon, head coach Mike Sullivan told the media (including the New York Post’s Mollie Walker) yesterday. Trocheck remains on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) with an upper-body injury, isn’t skating yet, and Sullivan directly said his return to play “isn’t imminent.” The Rangers have shifted veteran Mika Zibanejad back to his natural center position in response to Trocheck’s absence, and Zibanejad has started to heat up, scoring two goals and four points in his last three games. For the Rangers to make a serious push to gain ground in the Metropolitan Division early this season, Zibanejad, 32, will need to continue to produce and prove that he can handle some of the responsibilities left behind by Trocheck.
• Physical forward Matt Rempe will not travel to his hometown of Calgary for the Rangers’ upcoming game as he is still being evaluated for an upper-body injury, relays Newsday’s Colin Stephenson. Rempe appeared to suffer the injury in the process or aftermath of fighting Ryan Reaves during the Rangers’ Oct. 23 loss to the San Jose Sharks. The 6’9″, 261-pounder had played a steady fourth-line role in all of the Rangers’ nine games so far this season, and in response to his injury, the club called up 2021 first-rounder Brennan Othmann, who himself has been the subject of recent trade buzz.