Hurricanes Get Shocking News On Captain Jordan Staal

The Carolina Hurricanes have been dealt a tough break with the shocking news that captain and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jordan Staal will miss the next one to two months.

Oh no. Rod Brind'Amour says Jordan Staal has a tear in his calf and will miss “anywhere from a month to two months.” https://t.co/Eko0M99dHG

— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) October 13, 2026

The news that Staal has a partially torn calf came as a surprise as head coach Rod Brind'Amour said the injury "was a freak thing… kind of came up last minute."

"It was just something he did in warmups. A freak thing but it is what it is," Brind'Amour said. "It's going to be a long-term injury, really. It's going to be anywhere from a month to two months, so not good news there but we've had a lot of injuries over the years and we're just going to have to keep figuring it out."

He was scratched from Saturday’s game after the injury occurred during the pregame warm-up.

Staal is scoreless through six games this season. But his six goals in the Stanley Cup Finals last spring led the Canes to the Cup, and he was rewarded with the Conn Smythe. 

It's Staal's elite two-way play and shutdown defensive abilities that will be missed the most. 

"(Staal) gets the tough matchups every night, and frees up other guys to get a little bit lesser of that," Brind'Amour said. "But there's no hiding that now, so we're all going to have to step up a little more."

Mark Jankowski moved up from the fourth line on Saturday and played in Staal's usual spot on the third line between Nikolaj Ehlers and Jordan Martinook.