The Carolina Hurricanes have faced some tough injury news this summer, and while Sunday presented some more, at least there’s a positive update to go with it.
The bad: Tuomo Ruutu has been placed on the injured reserve, according to the Raleigh News & Observer’s Chip Alexander.
The good: Jeff Skinner is expected to practice Monday and could play in the team’s season opener, also via Alexander.
Both Skinner and Ruutu have struggled with health problems in recent seasons, so it’s sadly not a surprise that their names are coming up in injury news.
Skinner, 21, is currently nursing a lower-body injury, which the team just wanted to be smart about. He’s considered day-to-day at the moment, so tomorrow’s practice could be important in that regard.
GM Jim Rutherford emphasizes that Ruutu’s issue isn’t with a hip that plagued him before.
Regardless, it’s clear that the 30-year-old’s rugged style continues to put him at peril. He was limited to 17 games in 2013, missed 10 in 2011-12 and has frequently been sidelined in his up-and-down career. In retrospect, his 82-game (and 57-point) 2010-11 season with Carolina seems like a sad tease.
The Hurricanes already received some bad news about Joni Pitkanen earlier this offseason and have had some scares with Cam Ward and Eric Staal to boot.
Maybe Skinner’s progress is a sign that their luck might start turning around, then?