The Tampa Bay Lightning, like any victorious team in the NHL, had to battle through most countless injuries in the postseason. Tuesday at his end-of-season press availability, GM Julien BriseBois gave some updates on the health of his players. First and foremost was Victor Hedman, who tore his meniscus on March 30 and will get surgery to repair it Tuesday. The Norris finalist is expected to be out just two to four weeks, meaning he is not in danger of missing next season.
As Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports, BriseBois also revealed that both Ryan McDonagh and Barclay Goodrow broke their hands in the playoffs, while Nikita Kucherov had a non-displaced rib fracture that required an injection before each game. These injuries are in addition to the broken fibula that Alex Killorn previously revealed, which kept him out of all but one game in the Stanley Cup Final, and various other ailments (Blake Coleman was seen with his arm in a sling) that were not mentioned by BriseBois.
It has almost become a ritual at this point as teams finish their postseason runs to reveal countless major injuries that the roster was battling through. Tampa Bay is no different than every other team in this regard, but it is still impressive to hear how the players continued to perform through injury. Hedman, for instance, averaged nearly 25 minutes a night in the series against Montreal, eclipsing 26 in each of the final two games.
All of the injured players, whether they are getting surgery or not, are expected to be ready for training camp according to BriseBois.
More must-reads: