DALLAS (AP) — A couple of injuries during the Olympics affected how Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill approached the NHL trade deadline.
Nill wanted to add some depth, and some more good players, with standout forward Mikko Rantanen and center Radek Faksa both on injured reserve after they were hurt in the Olympics.
“Because of the injuries, that’s why we had make the moves we made,” Nill said before the Stars played NHL-best Colorado on Friday night. “We’re pretty happy with the players we have obtained. They addressed our needs.”
While the Stars didn’t make any more trades Friday, they had earlier this week fortified their defense by acquiring 6-foot-8 Tyler Myers from Vancouver, and filled a need up front by getting left wing Michael Bunting from Nashville.
Top-line center Roope Hintz, who was on Finland’s team with Rantanen, returned to the Stars on Friday night after missing their first four post-break games because of an illness, then got injured late in the second period.
Hintz remained on the ice and reached at the back of his left leg after being engaged with Nathan MacKinnon along the boards. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened or the exact injury, but Hintz put no weight on his left leg while being helped off the ice and then down the tunnel toward the locker room.
When Myers does play for the Stars, he will be the first Texas-born player to ever appear in a game for them. He and Bunting likely will make their Dallas debuts on Sunday.
Faksa sustained an upper-body injury when playing for the Czech Republic at the Olympics, but had been expected to be back after the break. But Nill said a lower-body injury when he was skating and working out after that will keep him out until around the start of the playoffs.
“Was rehabbing and in a pretty good spot to start playing again and unfortunately got injured,” Nill said. “That was a big loss for us. That kind of changed our direction.”
The Stars knew they would be at least a few weeks without Rantanen, their big acquisition at the trade deadline last year, because of the lower-body injury he sustained in Italy. He got hurt in the Olympic semifinals and didn’t play in Finland’s win over Slovakia for the bronze medal.
Nill said Rantanen was still at least a week or 10 days from starting to skate again.
“From there, we’ll see how he comes along.” Nill said.
Seven Stars players went to the Olympics, and Faksa was the only one who didn’t win a medal. Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell also played for Finland, while fellow defenseman Thomas Harley played for Canada, which lost to the United States in the gold medal game. Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was on the U.S. squad.
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