Steven Stamkos out at least four months after surgery
Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos has shown throughout his career a Wolverine-like prowess for rapid healing.
That’s pretty much the only good news right now for the Bolts, as Stamkos’s knee injury and recovery time from that injury are starting to come into focus.
Steven Stamkos is heading to Vail, CO., today and expected to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a lateral meniscus tear. While TB lists Stamkos as out indefinitely, it’s believed best-case recovery timeline for this procedure is four months, possibly longer. Stamkos’s procedure, which can have 4 to 6 month rehab, will be performed by knee specialist Dr. Robert LaPrade. Precise recovery time TBD.
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times confirmed that report. Stamkos injured the knee in a game against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
Four months would get him back in the middle of the regular season’s final weeks. Five months likely means the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, should the Lightning qualify.
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Stamkos was off to a tremendous start in the first year of his 8-year, $68-million contract with Tampa Bay. He had 20 points in 17 games, including nine goals, clicking with linemate Nikita Kucherov offensively.
Again, the hope is that Stamkos has shown a propensity for beating the estimates. He suffered a broken tibia colliding with a goal net in Boston on Nov. 11, 2013. He retuned on the low end of the recovery expectation: March 5, 2014. On April 4, 2016, he had surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome; he managed to return for Game 7 of their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins on May 26, 2016, despite being on blood thinners.
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So that’s the hope. Because otherwise, this is total despair. On top of his traditional stats, Stamkos had a 56.3 percent Corsi percentage to lead the Lightning this season, a total possession monster playing 17:52 per game. (He’s ninth in shots at 58.)
This sucks. For Stamkos, the Lightning and hockey in general.
But maybe not so much for the rest of the Atlantic Division.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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