Hurricanes All-Star forward ruled out for opening night. What that does to the lineup
Andrei Svechnikov was still in a yellow no-contact jersey at Tuesday’s final Carolina Hurricanes practice before the opening of the regular season after the team’s medical staff determined he needed more time to recover from the knee injury he suffered last spring.
That rules Svechnikov out of Wednesday’s season-opener against the Ottawa Senators, and Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Tuesday it’s unlikely Svechnikov will travel with the team on the five-game, eight-day road trip to follow.
“It’s too bad. We kind of hoped he would be ready,” Brind’Amour said. “He certainly looks good and everything but obviously that’s not something where you want to rush him back. Obviously he’s close. But not ready. We’ll go without him for a while.
“They have a certain criteria he has to reach with the strength in there and he’s not quite there. I think, too, comfort for him. He’s got to be 100 percent OK, good to go. It’ll happen. You watch him, you can’t tell anything’s there, but you can’t take a chance.”
Svechnikov tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in March and missed the Hurricanes’ entire run to the Eastern Conference final. Svechnikov had hoped, entering training camp, to be ready in time for the beginning of the regular season.
“I can’t promise anything,” Svechnikov said as camp opened. “There is no rush. I’ve got some time here. If I’m ready for game one, I’m going to play.”
Without Svechnikov, the Hurricanes are likely to dress 11 forwards and seven defenseman against the Senators instead of their usual 12 and six, which has the side benefit of getting both Jalen Chatfield and Tony DeAngelo into the lineup on the blue line. Brendan Lemieux would likely be the odd man out in that case, with Teuvo Teravainen filling what should eventually be Svechnikov’s spot with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Martin Necas.
“We had an idea this was going to happen, or possibly happen,” Brind’Amour said. “We played without him a lot, unfortunately, at the end of the year and obviously through preseason here. So it is what it is. Next guy up and we’ll keep going and hopefully he returns soon.”
The Hurricanes head out west for the ritual State Fair road trip after Wednesday’s game against the Senators, and they’ll return home briefly before playing a sixth road game at the Tampa Bay Lightning. That might be the next opportunity for Svechnikov to return. Brind’Amour said it’s unlikely it would be on the West Coast swing.
“We’ll see. He’s real close,” Brind’Amour said. “But he’s got to be right. We’re leaving on Thursday or Friday, whatever that is, so I don’t anticipate that.”
This story was originally published October 10, 2023 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Hurricanes All-Star forward ruled out for opening night. What that does to the lineup."
