Stars’ Roope Hintz out for 5 to 7 days with upper-body injury

Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill announced on the DLLS Stars Podcast that center Roope Hintz will be out for about a week with his upper-body injury.

Hintz sustained the injury during Saturday’s 5-4 loss to the Edmonton Oilers when he took a puck to the face while blocking a shot from Adam Henrique. Nill mentioned that there was no fracture, but he will be staying out of the lineup to keep his heart rate down and avoid any swelling.

Luckily for the Stars, that timeline means Hintz won’t miss too many games. They don’t play their next game until Friday, and only have two games before next Tuesday, which is when Hintz’ timeline is projected to end.

Hintz has been having another productive season with the Stars, as he has 25 goals and 27 assists for 52 points in 59 games. That’s partially been with the help of a recent hot stretch before the injury, as he has 3 goals and 16 points in 8 games since the break from the 4 Nations Face-Off, the most points by any player in that span.

With Hintz out of the lineup, Wyatt Johnston has replaced him on the Stars’ top line alongside Jason Robertson and the newly-acquired Mikko Rantanen. Johnston was originally on that line with Hintz and Robertson, but was placed further down the lineup after Rantanen joined the team. In 14:18 of ice time together, the trio of Robertson, Johnston and Rantanen have been outscored 1-0 and have a 35.37% 5v5 expected goals share.

The Stars currently sit in second in the Central Division with a 42-20-2 record. After a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks in their first game without Hintz, they’ll look to continue to persevere without their first-line center when they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Friday at 7 p.m. CST.