Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrej Nestrasil will miss his team's final 18 games of the regular season, general manager Ron Francis announced Tuesday.
Nestrasil suffered a fractured vertebra in last Thursday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, after taking a devastating hit from forward Nazem Kadri.
The 25-year-old exits with nine goals and 23 points while playing in a career-high 55 games this season.
