Stars’ Matt Duchene Placed on Long-Term IR

Immediately following the injury, Duchene was listed as day-to-day. In the instances when Duchene was skating with the team, he was seen wearing a tinted visor that he had never worn previously throughout his career.

The Stars’ forward depth has really had to rise to the occasion in Duchene’s absence. Mikko Rantanen has carried a significant portion of the load, but prolific scorers such as Jason Robertson – who was just named the NHL’s First Star of the Week after putting up nine points, six of which were goals, in Dallas’ last three games – Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston and Tyler Seguin have all stepped up. As a result, the Stars are second in the Central Division and are once again eying a shot at the Stanley Cup.

Need to Open Up Cap Space

Because Duchene’s LTIR placement is retroactive to Oct. 18, he has already served the minimum required time and could technically return at any moment. That means this roster maneuver could be a way to activate Jamie Benn, who has been on LTIR himself since the start of the season due to a collapsed lung. With his return imminent, the Stars needed to open up some cap space, and this could be the perfect way to do that.

In the short term, the Stars will need to call up players from their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, ahead of tomorrow night’s game against the New York Islanders. Injuries to defensemen like Ilya Lybushkin, listed as questionable, and Thomas Harley make adding additional bodies from the minor league ranks necessary. Placing both Duchene and Erne on LTIR frees up cap space to make these roster adjustments.

Of course, there’s also the chance that Duchene hasn’t been progressing as well as the team thought, though with his frequent appearances at morning skate that seems unlikely. Still, the Stars could be preparing to be without one of their best players for even longer than initially thought, which is a blow. What’s worse is that Duchene was performing well prior to the hit by Middleton – he had scored two points in four games.

The only thing for Stars fans to do is wait and see. If this is just a move to get Benn back and add some additional depth, everything will be fine, and Duchene should be back playing hockey soon. But if it’s something worse, the Stars may have to search elsewhere for answers on how to replace Duchene’s production.