Kyle Capobianco out a week as Stars loan Hryckowian

Capobianco got hurt in Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Devils. On Wednesday the Stars made the roster move that follows from it.

Lia Assimakopoulos

@Lassimak

The Stars have loaned Dylan Hryckowian to the Texas Stars. With Sam Steel likely for tomorrow and Kyle Capobianco out for at least a week, the Stars need the roster spot to call up a defenseman.

That's the whole move. With Sam Steel likely back, Dallas has a forward to spare and a defenseman short. Hryckowian goes down to the AHL and someone from the Texas blue line comes up. According to the Stars Thoughts roundup, Steel missed 2 games after an injection for a preexisting condition and should be back Thursday against Montreal. They also report that Dallas has only about $300K in cap space, so this was a swap, not a straight addition.

The injury itself looked bad. Yahoo Sports reported that Capobianco went down awkwardly near the boards and couldn't put any weight on his left leg as he was helped off. It was only his 5th appearance of the season, and he'd been playing on the 3rd pair with Tyler Myers. When a guy leaves like that, you start bracing for a timeline in months.

Daily Faceoff

@DailyFaceoff

Stars' Kyle Capobianco to miss at least a week with lower-body injury t.co/FPXehjsc8L

So the real news is that it's a week and not a season. Capobianco was getting an MRI Wednesday, and Glen Gulutzan sounded fairly calm about it: "I don't think it's six-to-eight weeks, but I would say he's gonna be out for a week here, for sure." That leaves room for it to run longer than a week, but it isn't a long-term injury. That matters for a guy Dallas just committed to. Capobianco signed a 2-year, one-way extension in June that runs through 2027-28 at a $875,000 cap hit.

The problem is depth on the back end. Esa Lindell has already been out for more than a week and is on injured reserve, per Yahoo. Losing a 2nd defenseman means Dallas is digging into the AHL for bodies in October. Stars Thoughts names Trey Taylor as the likely call-up. He shoots left like Capobianco. Veteran Kyle Burroughs is the other option, but he's a righty.

Next up is Montreal on Thursday. Watch who comes up from Texas, whether Steel actually goes, and what the MRI says about Capobianco. If the scan matches what Gulutzan said, this is a short shuffle. If it doesn't, Dallas is down 2 defensemen with almost no cap room to fix it.