The Dallas Stars roster continues to be ravaged by injuries, and the latest is the most significant yet.
Defenseman Lian Bichsel will miss the next 6-8 weeks due to a lower-body injury he sustained in Sunday’s win over the Ottawa Senators, which will require surgery, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said Tuesday.
Late in the second period, Bichsel was skating toward the boards in front of the benches to get the puck. As he made the play on the puck, he absorbed a hit from Ottawa’s Fabian Zetterlund and went awkwardly feet-first into the boards.
Bichsel appeared to be in significant pain, as he writhed on the ice. He couldn’t put any weight on his left leg as he was helped down the tunnel.
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Bichsel didn’t return the rest of the game, and Gulutzan said postgame they were hoping for good news Monday.
However, that good news did not come, and Bichsel will miss significant time.
“It’s a big piece for us,” Gulutzan said. “He’s been playing very well. Great young player, big body for us, but he’s gonna miss some time here.”
The injury is to the same leg on which Bichsel broke his left ankle in May 2023. He had a procedure done over the summer to remove the plate that was inserted.
Bichsel, who is in his second season in Dallas, had taken on a larger role, averaging 15:49 of ice time in his 26 games this year, while recording a goal and two assists.
The 6-7 Swiss defenseman is known as the most physical player on the Stars’ roster and leads the team in hits with 85 this season. No other player has more than 44 hits.
He also plays meaningful minutes on the penalty kill and has underrated puck-moving skills for his size.
He was a former first-round pick in 2022 and made his highly-anticipated NHL debut last December before joining the Stars for the remainder of the season and postseason.
The news is just the latest blow to a Stars blue line that has been heavily depleted this season. Bichsel’s injury happened the same game Ilya Lyubushkin returned after missing six games with a lower-body injury.
Thomas Harley is still out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. He has already missed over two weeks. Nils Lundkvist remains on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury he suffered over a month ago. The Stars said he would begin skating in the coming days, but there is still no clear timeline for his return.
Gulutzan said Bichsel and Lundkvist are dealing with almost identical injuries.
At forward, the Stars are still without Matt Duchene, who is close to returning after missing the last six weeks, and Adam Erne, who is also week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Defensively, the Stars have had to call for some extra support from Cedar Park. In addition to bringing up Alexander Petrovic at the start of the season, they have added Kyle Capobianco and Vladislav Kolyachonok in recent weeks.
The Stars are now down to six healthy defensemen and did not call up any additional support for the road trip out east. Kolyachonok will return to the lineup Tuesday to replace Bichsel.
They’ll have to hope Lundkvist and Harley are close to returning because the Stars are quickly running out of options.
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