Add Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy To The NHL’s Preseason Injured List

Forbes Business SportsMoney Add Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy To The NHL’s Preseason Injured List Carol Schram Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The business of sports is all part of the game. Following Sep 28, 2023, 07:44pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Known for his durability, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is expects to miss the .

. . [+] first two months of the 2023-24 season following back surgery.

(Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) Getty Images It wasn’t supposed to be this way. After acknowledging that overwork had contributed to a decline in his play last season, two-time Stanley Cup champion and 2019 Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy was expected to start the new season well-rested and back in top form. Instead, Tampa Bay Lightning announced on Thursday that their No.

1 goaltender has undergone a successful microdiscectomy to address a lumbar disk herniation. He’ll be sidelined for approximately two months. According to Lightning Insider Erik Erlendsson , who said he spoke with Lightning GM Julien BriseBois on Thursday, Vasilevskiy’s back issue first flared up in August, then again on the first day of training camp last week.

After injections and other treatments failed to solve the problem, it was determined that surgery would be the best course of action. Vasilevskiy’s absence will be a major blow for the Lightning. He’s not just good — he’s also a workhorse: second only to Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets in minutes played since he became a starter during the 2016-17 season.

Add in another 98 playoff games, by far the most of any stopper, and the 29-year-old has been the NHL’s busiest netminder over the last seven seasons. Vasilevskiy has been durable, too. His only absences have been for a fractured foot, which kept him out of action for a month in the fall of 2018, and for three games in COVID protocol in December of 2021, when a tidal wave of positive cases caused game postponements all around the league.

Vasilevskiy has also played every postseason second for the Lightning since 2019: 77 straight games and nearly 5,000 minutes of action. MORE FOR YOU Apple iPhone 15 Pro Overheating Reports: Insider Addresses Issue Ukraine’s Improvised Fighting Vehicle Is So Slow That A Soldier Can Walk Just As Fast Cannabis Overuse Linked To Heart Failure And Heart Attacks Study Finds Entering the fourth season of an eight-year contract extension that he signed in 2019, Vasilevskiy’s cap hit of $9. 5 million this is second-highest among active goalies this season, behind only Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers ($10 million).

Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens carries a cap hit of $10. 5 million, but the 36-year-old is on long-term injured reserve. He hasn’t played in more than a year and isn’t expected to see action in the NHL again.

Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche was named playoff MVP in 2022. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty . .

. [+] Images) Getty Images Elsewhere, another former playoff MVP who has not yet suited up for a preseason game is Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche. After saying during a late summer media availability that his offseason has been “a little bit of a grind” as he dealt with some lingering ailments, Makar has been spotted on the ice in Denver this week, helping warm up the Avalanche goalies, but has not yet skated in a practice.

The Avalanche, of course, are also missing their captain, Gabriel Landeskog. He hasn’t played since hoisting the Stanley Cup on June 26, 2022. After undergoing a second knee surgery last May, he is expected to miss the entire 2023-24 regular season.

A run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final also took a toll on the Florida Panthers. They’ll be starting their year without key defenders Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad, who both had surgical procedures during the offseason and could return around December. Out on the west coast, San Jose Sharks captain Logan Couture has been termed week-to-week with a lower-body injury suffered during his offseason training.

The latest reports suggest that the 34-year-old may not be ready to start the regular season. And while he does not yet have a team, there’s plenty of interest in Patrick Kane’s recovery from offseason hip surgery. An unrestricted free agent who has earned an estimated $115 million in his career, it’s expected that the 34-year-old three-time Stanley Cup champion will sign later this year with a top contender, once he feels he is back in game shape.

With the 2023 pre-season game schedule now in full swing, new injuries are also cropping up daily around the league. Most are of the day-to-day variety — and at this time of year, teams and their training staffs will generally err on the side of caution in the hope that small things don’t turn into big things. But the Washington Capitals announced on Wednesday that their new defenseman Joel Edmundson, who was acquired in a trade with Montreal in July, would miss 4-6 weeks with a fractured hand.

The Calgary Flames have also lost promising young forward Jakob Pelletier indefinitely after he underwent shoulder surgery to repair an injury suffered on Monday from a hard hit by Seattle Kraken forward Marian Studenic. Wednesday night also saw new Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman John Klingberg leave the Kraft Hockeyville game against the Buffalo Sabres. There’s no update yet on his condition.

The NHL’s preseason schedule continues through Oct. 7. Then, the 2023-24 regular season will kick off with a three-game slate on Tuesday, Oct.

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