Dallas Stars winger Denis Gurianov has been granted an indefinite leave of absence from the team due to family reasons, as per the Stars.
The team did not provide any specific details on the reasons, so that will either be kept private or reported on at a further time or when Gurianov returns to the lineup. It’s also unknown as to how long he will be absent, but again, that will either be reported on later or will be unknown until he returns.
Gurianov has struggled this season with just two goals, three assists and five points in 25 games. While he has yet to live up to his first-round pick potential, he’s usually good for around 30 points when playing most of the season but is on pace for just 16 over the course of an 82-game season.
Drafted 12th overall in 2015, Gurianov has spent the entirety of his career up to this point with the Stars organization and is now in his sixth season with the team. He is currently on a one-year, $2.9 million contract that he signed in the offseason, and he will be a restricted free agent when it ends this summer.
Aside from Gurianov’s absence, the Stars have a majority of their roster still active at the moment. Only Nicholas Caamano is on injured reserve after undergoing back surgery at the start of training camp, and since he will likely spend the season in the AHL, he’s on non-rostered injured reserve.
The Stars currently sit first in the Central Division with a 19-8-6 record and are second in the Western Conference, behind just the Vegas Golden Knights. They’re looking to build on their return to the playoffs last season, where they nearly upset the Calgary Flames in the first round in a seven-game series loss, a large part of that due to the play of Jake Oettinger, who’s also picked up where he left off last season.
