Devastating Update On Matt Duchene From GM Jim Nill.

The Dallas Stars have just released some devastating news.

In an official announcement that comes directly from Stars general manager Jim Nill, the Stars confirmed that veteran forward Matt Duchene will miss a significant portion of the season due to a core muscle injury. In the announcement the Stars revealed that they estimate Duchene will be out for a period of 3 months as a result of his injury.

From the Stars:

Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that forward Matt Duchene underwent successful surgery to repair a core injury. Duchene is expected to miss approximately three months.

Duchene initially suffered the injury back in training camp and the prognosis at that time didn't sound nearly as dire as it does today. Duchene was held out of training camp following the injury but was reportedly managing it without the assistance of surgery, that is at least until now.

Duchene has struggled due to injury over the last two seasons and that is very unfortunate for the Stars with Duchene a significant part of their offense. Despite being limited to just 57 games last season he still produced 16 goals and 29 assists for 45 points. The Stars will be hard pressed to replace him, especially since they have relatively little cap space to work with.

The Stars have put Duchene on long term injured reserve which will give them some added flexibility but, with Duchene returning later in the season, they won't be able to use it to replace him in the short term.