Dallas Stars Shed New Light On Multiple Player Injuries

The regular season is entering its final weeks and the Dallas Stars are trying to get healthy. With their playoff hopes on the line, the Stars will be receiving some players back in time for the push.

Thursday was a practice day for the Dallas Stars as they prepare for Friday night’s home contest against the Boston Bruins.

But along with the practice itself, there were also plenty of player updates, specifically regarding injured Stars.

After finishing the “road trip from hell” as Tyler Seguin called it, Dallas had plenty of injuries on their hands. A number of usual starters for the Stars were banged up over the course of the trip and left the Stars needing reinforcements. It even got to the point where they had to call up Curtis McKenzie and get him on a plane on Tuesday to make it to Washington D.C. in time for the game that night.

Now that the Stars are home and settled for a three-game stand that will once again test their playoff legitimacy, it looks as though they will be getting some soldiers back.

In addition to Ben Bishop going out for two weeks on Mar. 16, the Stars also lost Brett Ritchie, Marc Methot, and Jason Spezza during the trip. After today’s practice, it was confirmed that Ritchie is back and ready to play and Methot could be ready for tomorrow night’s contest. If Methot isn’t ready for tomorrow night, the Stars will insert rookie Dillon Heatherington into the lineup.

But there was some bad news. Besides Bishop being out for another week before reevaluation, Jason Spezza will be out for another two weeks before his own reevaluation. That would put his earliest return date at April 5, which is two days before the Stars end their 2017-18 regular season.

With that being said, Spezza could potentially be done for the year, especially if the Stars fail to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If that happens, there’s already talk that it could also be his last time to ever play in Victory Green. If Dallas does miss the playoffs, it is likely that there will be some significant changes in the offseason in another attempt to “get it right.” And considering Spezza’s lack of production this season, there’s a chance that he could be on the block.

With Spezza out for at least the next six or seven games, this gives an extended chance for players like Gemel Smith and Curtis McKenzie to make an extensive impression. They can not only help their own case in becoming NHL regulars, but also give the Stars a youthful spark and hopefully some depth on offense for the remainder of the playoff push.

Next: Doing The Math In Stars' Uphill Battle To Playoffs

But regardless of what happens in the future, here are the injury updates for right now. With Ritchie and Methot hopefully back in the lineup tomorrow night, the Dallas Stars have some extra size and strength to use down the stretch. Hopefully they use it well.