Stars feel fortunate Seguin's Achilles injury wasn't more serious

The Dallas Stars' road to a Central Division title got a whole lot tougher, as it was announced Friday that forward Tyler Seguin would miss three-to-four weeks after his right Achilles tendon was cut by the skate of defenseman Anton Stralman during Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Despite the major loss, general manager Jim Nill was just relieved the injury wasn't worse, as he gave an update to reporters.

"It's a 15-percent cut of the Achilles tendon, probably the best case scenario," Nill said, per Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. "They operated on him this morning, stitched him back up. He will be out 3-4 weeks and should be back for the playoffs. It's as good a case scenario as it could be considering how he got cut where he got cut."

Without the team's second-highest scorer, head coach Lindy Ruff will look for his depth forwards to step up as they have all season, helping the team net an NHL-best 233 goals in 72 games.

"We've got (Patrick) Sharp stepping back in. We lose one, we get one," Ruff said, as Sharp returned from a six-game absence Thursday. He added that the team has "good depth" with forwards Mattias Janmark, Travis Moen, and Brett Ritchie - who were all scratches Thursday - available to step in.

"I think we're fortunate that it is diagnosed what it is," Ruff said of Seguin's injury. "It shouldn't be as tough to come back from, but it will be a tough time of year to come back, I can tell you that. It'll be tough to catch up and get in playoff mode."

The Stars will take the ice without Seguin on Saturday against the New York Islanders, as they hope to remain in their current position atop the Western Conference standings.