Stars’ Ilya Lyubushkin day-to-day with upper-body injury

The Dallas Stars‘ blue line took another hit Friday as defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Stars head coach Pete DeBoer confirmed to team reporter Mike Heika.

Lyubushkin will not be in the lineup Friday when the Stars take on the Los Angeles Kings, while DeBoer also added that the rearguard is doubtful to play Saturday versus the San Jose Sharks.

Facing the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, Lyubushkin exited midway through the second period and did not return. On the season, the 30-year-old Russian-born rearguard has made 53 appearances with the Stars in which he has registered 11 assists alongside 16 penalty minutes and a plus-12 rating.

Lyubushkin is skating in his first season with Dallas after agreeing to a three-year, $3.25-million per season deal in unrestricted free agency. Prior to joining the Stars, Lyubushkin split the 2023-24 campaign between the Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs, totaling eight points with 57 penalty minutes and a minus-11 mark through 74 outings.

Originally joining the former Arizona Coyotes in 2018 as an undrafted free agent, Lyubushkin has seen 406 career contests with the Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Ducks, Stars, and two separate stints with the Maple Leafs in which he has collected five goals and 53 assists for 58 points.

With Lyubushkin sidelined, he joins a Stars’ injured list that already counts fellow blue-liners Nils Lundkvist, who will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign after undergoing shoulder surgery, as well as Finnish rearguard Miro Heiskanen, who is expected to be out of the lineup on a month-to-month basis following knee surgery.

Entering Friday’s contest against the Kings, the Stars sit second place in the Central Division with a 34-18-1 record and 69 points. The Stars have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the past three seasons.