Tyler Seguin's ACL Return Headlines NHL Preseason Injury Week

Tyler Seguin's return from ACL surgery finally has a boxscore line.

And it's a good one: 13:57 of ice time, a plus-1.

And a 2-1 Dallas Stars win at Minnesota on September 25, 2026. Nine months of rehab compressed into one road preseason win.

The rest of the league's injury week was a lot less fun.

Tyler Seguin's ACL Return Passes First Test

Context first, because the numbers only matter against the timeline.

Seguin hadn't played since December 2, 2025, when he tore the ACL in his right knee during a 3-2 overtime loss at the New York Rangers. Surgery came December 16. The typical recovery timeline for that surgery is nine months. And Seguin stepped back into a game right on the edge of that window. The rehab didn't stall. It barely wobbled. NHL.com has the full timeline.

He was cleared for contact before training camp, though he missed the start of camp. And coach Glen Gulutzan is refusing to slap a bow on it. Two days before the debut he was still hedging: "We'll know more tomorrow.

But it looks like he's going to be on track to play the last game, which is great," Gulutzan said Wednesday.

Translation from coach-speak: the knee is structurally fine, the confidence is a work in progress.

The 34-year-old forward has been honest about how ugly this one was. "I never thought I'd get slapped in the face with something this different than the rest," Seguin said at the Dallas Stars Foundation's annual Drive Fore the Kids golf tournament. "I thought a lot of things were hard. And then this one's been probably the most challenging." He'd been skating with teammates at the practice rink in Frisco, Texas, for weeks before game action came calling. Read his full comments here.

Here's my read: 13:57 at plus-1 is not a token lap. That's a real workload in a real game against a division rival, on the road, with traffic. The first test after a knee reconstruction isn't fitness, it's trusting the leg when someone leans on you in a corner. He passed that. Everything after this is just ramp-up.

How Did Filip Chytil Get Hurt?

Filip Chytil's injury is the freak-show kind.

At 14:54 of Vancouver's 2-1 preseason loss to Edmonton at Rogers Arena on September 24, Chytil chased a loose puck toward the corner, got bumped by an Oilers player, clipped skates with referee Riley Brace. And fell heavily into the boards with his right shoulder. He's now out week to week. The sequence is detailed here.

Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson tried to calm everyone down the next morning. "He was in great spirits this morning," Johnson said Friday, adding, "It will be a week-to-week thing. But nothing at this point that is alarming." Fair enough. But week to week in late September has a way of becoming "misses the start of the season" real fast.

The brutal part is the history. Chytil played just 12 games last season after a concussion six games into the campaign, then dealt with migraines after returning in late January. Now a collision with an official, pure randomness, puts his shoulder in jeopardy. At some point it's not bad luck anymore, it's a pattern. And Vancouver's depth down the middle can't keep absorbing it. NHL.com has the background.

What Happened to Brock Faber?

Same building, same night as Seguin's comeback, the other bench lost a body. Brock Faber left Minnesota's 2-1 loss to Dallas after the second period after getting hit in the head with a puck. No timeline attached, which in September usually means the team is treating it as precautionary until the morning after tells them more. The report is here.

Any puck to a defenseman's head makes you hold your breath, and Minnesota fans know exactly why. But the vibe around this one is watch-and-wait, not catastrophe. And the smart move is to not spiral until the Wild say something concrete. The Wild blue-liner getting pulled after two periods of a meaningless preseason game is the textbook definition of low-stakes caution. If it's more than that, it becomes a very other conversation about a team that needs him logging big minutes.

What Tyler Seguin's Return Means for Dallas

Is Tyler Seguin 100 percent yet? Medically cleared for contact, yes. Gulutzan still won't commit to the full number, and after the 13:57 debut the honest answer is "close, and trending right." The Stars' own coverage tracks it here.

How long is Filip Chytil out? Week to week with the shoulder, per the Canucks, with Johnson calling it "nothing at this point that is alarming."

The big picture: a 34-year-old coming off the hardest injury of his career just played a real game less than ten months after surgery. And his team won it. That's the best news Dallas could have asked for. And it changes their floor for the 2026-27 season more than any September lineup card should. NHL.com's recap is here.

So what to watch next: the preseason finale, the game Gulutzan targeted.

Does Seguin's ice time climb toward a regular-season load, or does Dallas keep the training wheels on and protect him from himself? And in Vancouver, does "week to week" turn into a cleaner answer before the games start counting? Drop your guess below: is Seguin's knee a storyline in November, or already old news?