Dallas Stars Coach Pete DeBoer said on Tuesday that defenseman Miro Heiskanen might be unavailable in the first round of the NHL Playoffs due to his knee injury.
Heiskanen has been unavailable since January 28 after colliding with a player from the Vegas Golden Knights. He underwent surgery on February 4, and the team is considering him “month to month” for the remainder of the season, per NBC 5 DFW.
DeBoer said it is a “realistic possibility” that Heiskanen is unavailable in the first round of the playoffs, adding to a potentially difficult matchup against a solid Western Conference opponent.
“We’re going to get Colorado, Winnipeg, somebody really good in the first round [of the playoffs]; that’s a given,” he said, per NHL.com.
“On paper, we’re going to have similar lineups to whoever we’re playing. So that chemistry, that team identity, all those things you’re trying to establish down the stretch are going to be the things that hopefully separate you from whoever you’re playing at that time of the year because there’s not going to be a lot of skill separation on paper.”
Dallas is currently second in the Western Conference standings and has put together a record of 11-4-2 in games without Heiskanen, though two of those losses have come against Colorado and Winnipeg, per NHL.com.
Deboer added that forward Tyler Seguin is expected to return to the team before the playoffs, returning from a hip surgery he underwent in early December.
“[He’s] skating regularly, looking good and on all projections [will] be back by the end of the year,” said Deboer, per NHL.com.
“He’s working his tail off to get back.”
Dallas has only 15 games remaining in the regular season, meaning the team is unlikely to catch up to the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Western Conference.
However, the team must continue winning games to avoid falling to the third or fourth seed, with just four points separating the three teams fighting for seeding in those spots.
The Stars will look to begin a winning streak with another victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Two more home games will follow before the team embarks on a four-game road trip.