Carolina Hurricanes Scott Darling expected to be sidelined following injury

Carolina Hurricanes goalie Scott Darling is expected to be sidelined into at least the middle of the month with a lower-body injury.

Darling was placed on injured reserve Tuesday. The Hurricanes filled the void by claiming goalie Curtis McElhinney on waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

An MRI performed on Darling revealed nothing major, but coach Rod Brind'Amour made the announcement that Darling would miss "a couple weeks, for sure."

For his part, Darling told reporters at the "We Love the Hurricanes" luncheon Tuesday that he is dealing with a "minor little injury" and that he was being held out as a precaution. He sustained the injury in a preseason game against the Nashville Predators on Sunday.

"I feel good, nothing major and I hope to be back soon," Darling said.

Darling, 29, was 13-21-7 with a 3.18 goals-against average and a .888 save percentage in 43 games (40 starts) for Carolina last season. He had a 2.37 GAA in 75 games (64 starts) across three seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2014-17.

With Darling sidelined, free agent addition Petr Mrazek will start the Hurricanes' season opener against the New York Islanders on Thursday.

"It's a setback, no doubt," Brind'Amour said of the Darling injury. "But that's why we got Petr in here, too. It makes my decision a lot easier on who we're going to throw out there to start on opening night. That part is done and hopefully, he gets healthy and back to where he was."

McElhinney was 11-5-1 with a 2.14 GAA in 18 appearances (15 starts) for Toronto last season. The 35-year-old is 62-71-13 with a 2.86 GAA in 186 career NHL appearances with six different franchises.