Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal is out of his cast and expected to begin off-ice workouts soon according to head coach Bill Peters.
Staal suffered a fractured fibula during an awkward collision with Buffalo Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges in the Canes’ second preseason game and underwent surgery the same week.
“He was looking good today. He’s out of the boot,” Peters told the team’s website. “He’s going to start training with our people off the ice. From there, if everything goes well – it depends on the amount of swelling and the recovery from workout to workout day-to-day – he’ll progress to skating on his own with Pete Friesen, and then he’ll join us from that point.”
Staal, 26, was originally expected to miss 3-4 months with the injury. Carolina’s 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday was game No. 23 missed by Staal.
“There are a couple of different timelines, but we’ll just wait and see. It’s going good, and I think he’s slightly ahead of schedule, whatever schedule that would be,” Peters said. “I just know we have to be patient with it.”
Carolina plays host to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.