Stars Place Penalty Kill Specialist on Injured Reserve With Upper-Body Injury

On Friday, the Dallas Stars placed depth forward Oskar Bäck on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, retroactive to October 14.

The 26-year-old Swedish forward has one point through seven games this season. He has played a depth role with the Stars over the past two seasons, filling in as a roughly 15-point player whose main strength is his work on the penalty kill.

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Over his three seasons in Dallas, Bäck has logged the second-most penalty kill minutes of any Stars forward, trailing only Sam Steel. During that span, the Stars have ranked in the top five in the league on the penalty kill.

Bäck is essential to the unit's success, and with him sidelined, Dallas will need to find a suitable replacement to help keep the group afloat. He joins Matt Duchene on injured reserve, though Bäck is expected to have a far shorter timeline to return.

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