Olympic injuries to Rantanen and Faksa affected how Dallas Stars approached NHL trade deadline

DALLAS (AP) — A couple of injuries during the Olympics affected how Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill approached the NHL trade deadline, then another of their Olympians got hurt Friday night.

Nill wanted to add some depth and some more good players, with standout forward Mikko Rantanen and center Radek Faksa both on injured reserve after they were hurt in the Olympics.

“Because of the injuries, that's why we had make the moves we made,” Nill said before the Stars' 5-4 loss in a shootout to NHL-best Colorado that ended their franchise-record 10-game winning streak. “We’re pretty happy with the players we have obtained. They addressed our needs.”

While the Stars didn't make any more trades Friday, they had earlier this week fortified their defense by acquiring 6-foot-8 Tyler Myers from Vancouver, and filled a need up front by getting left wing Michael Bunting from Nashville.

Then top-line center Roope Hintz, who was on Finland's team with Rantanen, got hurt late in the second period after returning for the Stars against Colorado. He missed their first four post-break games because of an illness.

Hintz remained down and reached at the back of his left leg after being engaged with Nathan MacKinnon along the boards. Hintz put no weight on his left leg while being helped off the ice and then down the tunnel toward the locker room.

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said he didn't really see the play and had no significant update on the injury.

“We won't know for a day or two here,” Gulutzan said. “Get him looked at, and hopefully it's not too long.”

When Myers does play for the Stars, he will be the first Texas-born player to ever appear in a game for them. He and Bunting likely will make their Dallas debuts on Sunday at home against Chicago..

Faksa sustained an upper-body injury when playing for the Czech Republic at the Olympics, but had been expected to be back after the break. But Nill said a lower-body injury when he was skating and working out after that will keep him out until around the start of the playoffs.

“Was rehabbing and in a pretty good spot to start playing again and unfortunately got injured,” Nill said. “That was a big loss for us. That kind of changed our direction.”

The Stars knew they would be at least a few weeks without Rantanen, their big acquisition at the trade deadline last year, because of the lower-body injury he sustained in Italy. He got hurt in the Olympic semifinals and didn’t play in Finland’s win over Slovakia for the bronze medal.

Nill said Rantanen was still at least a week or 10 days from starting to skate again.

“From there, we'll see how he comes along.” Nill said.

Seven Stars players went to the Olympics, and Faksa was the only one who didn't win a medal. Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell also played for Finland, while fellow defenseman Thomas Harley played for Canada, which lost to the United States in the gold medal game. Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was on the U.S. squad.

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Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) and Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (24) scuffle during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, March 6, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) and Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (24) scuffle during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, March 6, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz, bottom right, is checked by a trainer as defenseman Miro Heiskanen (4) looks on during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche Friday, March 6, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dallas Stars' Sam Steel, center, celebrates his goal with teammates Matt Duchene, left, and Miro Heiskanen during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames in Calgary, Alberta on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

Four people were killed Friday in southern Michigan as powerful storms that produced at least one tornado reduced homes to rubble, sent parts of roofs flying into the air and left a trail of debris hanging from power lines.

In the Union Lake area, near Union City, three people were killed and 12 injured after an apparent tornado hit, according to the Branch County Sheriff’s Office. About 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southwest, Cass County officials reported one death and several injuries, after a tornado touched down.

Lisa Piper stood on her back deck and videoed a terrifying scene that played out on the other side of frozen Union Lake as a funnel cloud formed and then dropped toward the ground. Trees were torn from their roots and debris flew into the air.

“It’s lifting houses!” she said. As the devastation continued, she exclaimed: “Oh my heart is pounding. Oh, I hope they’re OK.”

At least one tornado has been confirmed in southern Michigan, near Union City, on Friday, according to the National Weather Service, and there were reports of possible others.

Part of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Union City was damaged, although its nearly 150-year-old grand piano was spared, it said in a post on Facebook.

The combination of a weather system that pulled moisture out of the Gulf of Mexico and a warm front that moved north created the right conditions for a tornado in a state where they're relatively rare, according to David Roth, a meteorologist at the weather service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. The system encountered much cooler air in the Great Lakes area.

Michigan gets an average of 15 tornadoes a year, which is much less than the 155 for Texas and 96 for Kansas, he said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer activated the state's Emergency Operations Center Friday “to coordinate an all-hands-on-deck response to severe weather,” she said in a statement.

In St. Joseph County, Michigan, next to the Indiana border, the sheriff’s office told residents to “seek shelter immediately” following reports of an unconfirmed tornado, a severe thunderstorm watch and possible winds more than 60 mph (96 kph). The sheriff's office said they should expect power outages, closed roads and disruptions to cell service and the internet.

Powerful storms formed Friday afternoon from Michigan all the way to North Texas.

A tornado cut around a 4-mile (6.4-kilometer) path of damage in Okmulgee County, some 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Tulsa, although more details wouldn’t be clear until daybreak, said Jeff Moore, the county’s emergency manager.

Some people were injured, although Moore couldn't provide an exact number or their conditions, and large trees were toppled. Power was out for more than 1,600 people, according to poweroutage.us.

“We’re just getting everywhere as fast as we can, clearing roads as fast we can,” Moore said.

In an eerie scene captured on video Thursday, a first responder drove straight at a storm near the western Oklahoma town of Fairview, where flashes of lightning illuminated a giant funnel that appeared to reach the ground. That storm, among the first outbreaks of severe weather on the verge of the spring storm season, was filmed by a camera mounted on the deputy's car.

Nearby, a 47-year-old woman and her 13-year-old daughter from Fairview were found dead in a vehicle near an intersection of a highway and a county road at about 10 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

“I am praying for the family as they grieve this tragic loss, as well as all those impacted by the storms,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement Friday.

More than 7 million Americans were at the highest risk of severe weather Friday in an area that includes Kansas City, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Omaha, Nebraska, according to the national Storm Prediction Center. Nearly 25 million people were at a slightly lesser risk in a zone that includes Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Severe, scattered thunderstorms are expected to continue Friday evening from areas of the Plains states to the Ozarks and Midwest, the National Weather Service said.

The spring storms come near the start of what many call tornado season, which generally begins at various times in different parts of the U.S. Experts recommend a few simple safety steps to take before tornadoes hit, including having a weather radio and a plan for where to take shelter.

The weather began to ease Friday in some areas of the Northeast, but Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut remained under weather advisories.

In parts of the southern U.S., the weather pattern is also expected to usher in extremely warm temperatures for this time of year by the weekend.

“Temperatures will be 20-30 degrees above average, with 80s reaching as far north as parts of the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic,” federal forecasters wrote in their long-range forecast discussion. “Daily records could become widespread.”

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McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire, and Martin reported from Atlanta. Associated Press Writer Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.

Damage is seen at Menard's store after a severe storm in Three Rivers, Mich., Friday, March 6, 2026. (Devin Anderson-Torrez/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP)

Damage is seen after a severe storm in Three Rivers, Mich., Friday, March 6, 2026. (Devin Anderson-Torrez/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP)

Damage is seen after a severe storm in Three Rivers, Mich., Friday, March 6, 2026. (Devin Anderson-Torrez/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP)

Damage is seen at the Menard's store after a severe storm in Three Rivers, Mich., Friday, March 6, 2026. (Devin Anderson-Torrez/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP)

FILE - This photo shows the National Weather Service monitoring station in Brownville, Texas, May 23, 2014. (David Pike/Valley Morning Star via AP, File)

This image taken from video provided by the Fairview, Okla., Emergency Management shows a severe weather system west of Fairview, Okla., late Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Danny Giager/ Fairview Emergency Management via AP)