Can the Hurricanes Win Without Joni Pitkanen?

Injury news. Apparently it comes at the wrong times for teams, especially when training camps are opening up. And the Carolina Hurricanes are one of the teams dealing with injuries and this is terrible news for a team trying to rewrite itself as a great team.

They have lost Joni Pitkanen for the entire season with a broken heel, meaning that the defense will have to be readjusted in order to cope with his absence. He was initially hurt when he slid into the boards on April 2 during a puck race on an icing call. He missed the rest of last season.

GM Jim Rutherford has a lot to contend with. This summer, he traded for defenseman Andrej Sekera and signed Mike Komisarek. And they have prospects like Brett Bellemore and Ryan Murphy who can take Pitkanen's place, but do not have the experience or the defense much like Pitkanen had.

This news comes just as hybrid icing is being tested, which would prevent such injuries as this. Hybrid icing means that if the defensive player gets to the faceoff dot first, the whistle would be blown. It could become adopted into the regular season if the NHLPA and the league sign off on it.

But, meanwhile, Rutherford has a bunch of pieces to deal with it. With the loss of Pitkanen, I'm not sure how the Hurricanes will cope. They didn't exactly do well last season and I don't expect a really strong season for them. I hope that Pitkanen recovers fully and is able to get back into the NHL next year. In the meantime, get well and recover and hope that the Hurricanes can be able to pick up the pieces and continue on.