Hurricanes to be without key defenseman for quite a while

Carolina Hurricanes beat reporter Walt Ruff is reporting that head coach Rod Brind’Amour told the media that defenseman Brett Pesce’s lower-body injury is worse than originally thought and the 28-year-old could be out long term. Brind’Amour’s exact words, when asked by reporters, were that the injury was bad and could keep Pesce out way longer than week to week.

At this time little is known about how long Pesce could be unable to play, he has already missed two games with the ailment, which Brind’Amour had hoped would only cause him to miss a couple of games. However, after being re-evaluated today the prognosis for Pesce is not good.

What exactly is ailing Pesce is also not clear, but for the Hurricanes it compounds the issues the team has dealt with in what has been a bad start to the season. Carolina has struggled defensively and losing Pesce will certainly add to those woes. He and Brady Skjei have logged more minutes at even strength than any of the Hurricanes’ other defensive pairings and have been the most effective. The duo has been on for five even-strength goals for and just two against this season.

The situation must be especially frustrating for Pesce, who is not only sidelined from playing but also missing time during a contract season. The native of Tarrytown, New York is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and is in line to get a lucrative long-term deal next summer. How lucrative that contract will be remains to be seen, but Pesce was no doubt hoping to maximize his earnings with a solid year in Carolina, but now it appears he could miss a substantial portion of the season.