The Carolina Hurricanes have a major problem on their hands involving Jordan Staal

The Carolina Hurricanes will be without their captain for a while.

Head coach Rod Brind'Amour announced that Staal has a tear in his calf and should be out anywhere from one to two months.

The injury happened during warm-ups before Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Brind'Amour described it as a freak thing, and Staal was ruled out before the game.

Carolina handled business without him anyway and won 4-1.

Staal is 38 years old and has been a pillar in Raleigh for 14 years.

He hasn't recorded a point through six games this season, but he's winning 55.6% of his faceoffs and plays big minutes at five on five, on the penalty kill and on the power play. That's tough to replace.

He has worn the C since 2019 and collects Selke votes every year, so the leadership void matters as much as the ice time.

He also took home the Conn Smythe in June after the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.

The timing isn't ideal for a team trying to repeat.

Still, a return somewhere between mid-November and mid-December would have him back well before the real push begins.

Mark Jankowski slid into the third line against Philadelphia, skating with Nikolaj Ehlers and Jordan Martinook.

He scored in the third period to stretch his goal streak to four games, and he should see a bigger role, including time on the second power-play unit.

Carolina is also expected to call up a player from its AHL affiliate in Chicago.

Brind'Amour pointed out after Sunday's win that the schedule has been packed and other players keep stepping up.

Depth was always going to matter for this group.

Now it gets tested early.

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