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The Dallas Stars will be without one of their key offseason pickups for the next several weeks, announcing Saturday that veteran forward Ray Whitney was placed on injured reserve with a lower body injury.

The team didn't go into the specifics, but Stars beat writer Mike Heika reports it's a broken bone in Whitney's foot and he is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

Whitney signed with the Stars as a free agent in large part because they were willing to give the 40-year-old winger a two-year deal. He was supposed to help fix a power-play unit that was one of the NHL's worst in 2011-12. He's still a gifted offensive playmaker and was leading the Stars in scoring before the injury with two goals and four assists in their first eight games.

To replace Whitney in the lineup, the Stars called up forward Reilly Smith from the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League.

Whitney was part of a busy Stars offseason that also saw them acquire forwards Jaromir Jagr and Derek Roy. Roy has appeared in four games after recovering from offseason surgery, while Jagr has five points in seven games.

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