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Dallas Stars’ Patrick Eaves: What Lies Beyond IR

By Micaela Hamid |

We all have off days from time to time. Things like hitting traffic on the way to work or cracking your phone screen are inevitable and plague even the best of us.

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But every once in a while, you meet someone who just can’t seem to catch a break. Things go wrong for them at every turn and there’s nothing much they, or you, can do about it. Enter Patrick Eaves.

The 31 year old right winger has seen more than his fair share of misfortune, even before he joined the Dallas Stars’ squad for the 2014-2015 season. His latest in a long string of unfortunately timed injuries occurred during the contest against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday the 13th (which seems an ill-fated numerical date for him in general).

In the first period of the game, Eaves was taken down the tunnel with a lower body injury and would not return for the rest of the game. Earlier today, the Stars disclosed that Eaves has been placed on injured reserve and Lindy Ruff estimated that it could be several weeks until his return.

As with anything, there are two sides to this coin: the cup half empty and the cup half full. While the timing of this injury may seem inopportune with the Stars headed out on a 4 game road trip, it also affords other players a chance to improve their game and prove their worth. However, in light of Eaves’ injury history, this most recent incident also generates some curiosity about its impact on his future with the Stars.

Though Eaves is currently suffering from a lower body injury, he has been plagued most often in the past by head injuries. The most serious of these was one he sustained in November of 2011, while playing for the Red Wings. Taking a puck to the head, he was diagnosed with a concussion and broken jaw and had to be removed from the ice on a stretcher. He went on to miss the remainder of that season.

Eaves reported that his recovery from that incident was “miserable,” which made the similar injury he sustained in February of 2015, while playing for the Stars in the same game against the Panthers that sidelined Tyler Seguin as well, such an unlucky event. He was hit in the head by a slapshot from John Klingberg, and suffered another concussion and a nasty cut to the face, missing a little over two weeks as a result.

But don’t let his multiple concussions fool you; he’s a man of variety, too. He was also sidelined by a broken ankle during the 2014-2015 season. Yet, amidst this all this turmoil and in only 47 games played, he still put up 14 goals and 27 points on the season.

This production, despite what can only be called a proclivity for calamity, is undoubtedly one of the reasons the Dallas Stars extended Eaves’ contract by one year this summer when he became an unrestricted free agent. Of course, this extension probably followed the assumption that he would be spending a lot more time playing and being healthy than he had in the past season.

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But accidents happen, just like the unfortunate one this Tuesday night. While this injury and Eaves’ time spent on IR could possibly damper his long-term future with the Stars, it also opens up the opportunity for other players- namely, Curtis McKenzie.

McKenzie was the last to be cut from the Stars’ roster in preparation for the season, with Mattias Janmark taking his spot. Janmark has done nothing but validate his inclusion in the roster so far. But with Eaves out for at least a few weeks, the Dallas Stars have recalled McKenzie from the AHL, giving him another chance to prove himself with Dallas.

While playing for the Stars last season, McKenzie demonstrated a fearless physicality that will help in making up for the loss of Eaves’ selfless manner of sacrificial shot blocking. So while Eaves’ injury is unfortunate and untimely, the Dallas Stars seem poised to handle the problem and fill the gap skillfully and quickly.

And isn’t that what we want as fans? Not to see a team that skates through the season footloose and fancy free without a care in the world, but a team that surmounts hardship and comes back stronger for it.

What do you think is written in the stars for Patrick Eaves’ future with Dallas? Will McKenzie take advantage of his second chance at a season start with the Stars?

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