The Carolina Hurricanes will be without winger Jesper Fast for at least the first game of series against the New York Islanders according to coach Rod Brind'Amour.
"He won't play tomorrow," Brind'Amour said "Until he practices, you can pretty much rule him out."
The Swedish winger was again absent from the team's practice on Friday with Jack Drury instead skating on the fourth line alongside Evgeny Kuznetsov and Stefan Noesen.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who had been in Fast's place yesterday, was instead centering the second line with Teuvo Teravainen and Martin Necas.
However, it doesn't sound like Fast will be out long term according to Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell.
"It's a lose of course, but we're pretty deep right now up front," Waddell said. "Though if we get [Fast] back, it will be better for our team with the way he pressures the puck. ... We'll miss him, but I think we're deep enough right now to get through it until he gets back. I'm not sure how long he'll be, but he looked a lot better today than he did the last two days. I think it's just a matter of days at this point."
Waddell also revealed that Fast's injury is a neck strain, which is an injury that he's already dealt with this season.
Fast, who was last season's playoff scoring leader for Carolina, is a strong piece for the Canes, but while his absence will be felt, as Waddell hinted towards, the deep has more than enough depth to cover for him until he's ready to return.