Stars place Roope Hintz on IR with illness

The move is retroactive to February 25, which is not when Hintz last played an NHL game but rather when the NHL resumed its regular season following a break for players to participate in the Olympics.

Hintz was a key member of Team Finland at the tournament, helping his home country claim the bronze medal with a win over Slovakia.

The 29-year-old center has played in 52 games this season, tallying 15 goals and dishing out 29 assists for 44 points. Hintz has logged an average of 17:27 per game played while skating to a plus-15 rating.

In addition to Hintz’s absence, fellow Finnish star Mikko Rantanen has also been sidelined since the Olympics. In the absence of two of the team’s most crucial forwards, head coach Glen Gulutzan’s top six has consisted of Wyatt Johnston, Jason Robertson, Mavrik Bourque, Sam Steel, Matt Duchene and Jamie Benn.

General manager Jim Nill and the Stars are expected to be active once again at this year’s NHL trade deadline, which falls on Friday. Last year, Dallas pulled off the biggest move of the day when it landed Rantanen in exchange for Logan Stankoven and four picks in a blockbuster swap with the Carolina Hurricanes.

While that move and the subsequent contract extension Nill gave Rantanen have pushed the franchise into a salary cap crunch, Tyler Seguin’s season-ending knee injury and subsequent placement on long-term injured reserve do give Nill some flexibility to add salary to the roster.

In an extremely competitive Central Division, it may not just be a want but a need for Nill to bolster his group. The Stars currently sit in second place in the division, six points behind the Colorado Avalanche and three points ahead of the Minnesota Wild. The Central’s three juggernauts are not only the three top teams in the West, they make up three of the top four teams in the NHL standings overall.

Dallas has rattled off wins in each of its past nine games, and the Stars will look to run their winning streak to double digits when they take on the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.