Eric Staal suffered MCL sprain, avoids surgery

The Carolina Hurricanes announced on Saturday that their captain will not need surgery after suffering a third-degree sprain of his MCL at the world hockey championships on Thursday in Sweden.

Eric Staal needed to be helped off the ice after he was involved in a knee-on-knee collision with Sweden's Alex Edler.

In a release, the Hurricanes said Staal's rehabilitation is set to take about three months and he is expected to be ready for the start of the 2013-14 NHL season.

Edler, who was given a game misconduct for kneeing, was suspended for the remainder of the IIHF tournament on Friday.

Staal had three assists in eight games with Team Canada at the tournament. The team was eliminated by Sweden in the quarterfinals.