Miro Heiskanen is out week to week for the Dallas Stars because of a lower-body injury.
The defenseman left at 1:19 of the third period of a 5-4 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday after a hard collision with Dallas goalie Scott Wedgewood in the crease.
"Going to have some tests today. It doesn't look terrible," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said Friday. "He's not out for the season but I would term it more week to week than day to day. No surgery or anything like that. That's all the good news as of the information I have so far."
Heiskanen leads Dallas in ice time per game (25:03) and is tops among its defensemen with 27 points (four goals, 23 assists) in 37 games this season. He had an NHL career-high 73 points (11 goals, 62 assists) in 79 games last season.
"This is going to be by committee; you don't replace a guy like that," DeBoer said.
The No. 3 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Heiskanen has 213 points (48 goals, 183 assists) in 391 games, all with the Stars. He has 45 points (10 goals, 35 assists) in 66 Stanley Cup Playoff games, including 26 (six goals, 20 assists) in 2020 to help Dallas reach the Stanley Cup Final; the 26 points is the sixth-most by a defenseman in a single postseason.
The Stars have used seven different defenseman this season, with Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, Jani Hakanpaa and Ryan Suter playing in all 37 games. Thomas Harley (34), Nils Lundkvist (27) and Joel Hanely (14) have also played this season.
"You look around the League, everyone goes through these situations and someone's misfortune is someone else's opportunity and you have to make the most of it," DeBoer said. "So other guys are going to have to play more, other guys are going to have to play in different situations, other guys are going to have to come out of the crowd and into the lineup and you've got to get the job done and make your case that you can help us win."
Dallas (22-10-5) is third in the Central Division and hosts the Nashville Predators on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; BSSO, BSSW).
