Amidst long road back, Carl Hagelin hopes to play in NHL again
Amidst long road back, Hagelin hopes to play in NHL again originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Just past 10:30 a.m. on April 4, nearly every Capitals player walked onto the ice at Capitals MedStar IcePlex in full uniform. It was team picture day, after all.
After several camera flashes went off and the festivities were over, players quickly returned to their dressing room to prep for practice. One player, however, took a few extra seconds to come off the ice, slowly gliding around the Arlington rink.
Who? Longtime NHL veteran Carl Hagelin. Why? Well, it was the 34-year-old's first time putting on skates since undergoing hip resurfacing surgery -- his second hip procedure since September -- in February, an operation that officially ended any hope of him suiting up this past season.
Hagelin's been forced to deal with more than his fair share of adversity in the past year. And, after a decorated NHL career with two Stanley Cup titles, it would be easy for him to hang up the skates.
But that's not Carl Hagelin.
"My goal is to play again," Hagelin said on Saturday during the Capitals' locker room cleanout.
Hagelin first felt pain in his hip in August of 2020 when the Capitals were in the bubble due to the pandemic. But he continued to play through the pain, appearing in a combined 109 games over the next two seasons despite feeling constant discomfort in his hip and groin area.
The Swede spent much of the 2021-22 campaign playing on Washington's productive fourth line alongside Garnet Hathaway and Nic Dowd. But during a routine practice on March 1, 2022, his season -- and career -- came to a screeching halt.
Battling for the puck with a teammate during practice, Hagelin caught a stick to his left eye and immediately started to bleed. He was rushed off the ice and when initially checked out by doctors, they feared the eye would need to be removed entirely. Fortunately, doctors were able to restitch his pupil, a procedure that allowed Hageling to see out of the injured eye once again.
Once the Capitals reached the playoffs, Hagelin's doctors allowed him to skate during practice, precautionarily, to simply test things out. Quickly, he realized his vision was significantly impacted by the injury.
"Depth perception was definitely a big deal," Hagelin said. "You'd miss pucks and they come in slow and then it would come really fast."
Hagelin then began to work with Dr. Keith Smithson, an optometrist in Reston, Va., to, in his words, "recalibrate my brain with the eyes, so that the right eye does what it needs to do to help the left eye." Once they were able to accomplish that, the next step was "making the left eye as perfect as possible."
Just before training camp this past fall, Hagelin got to a point working with Dr. Smithson where he felt "pretty confident." The center sported a tinted visor during informal skate sessions ahead of camp to see if that would help his depth perception, later explaining that he sees a glare when around bright lights because his repaired pupil doesn't dilate.
But before doctors could fully clear Hagelin from his eye injury to return to hockey, issues with his hip flared up again. That's why he ultimately decided to undergo hip arthroscopy in September, with the hope he'd be able to return later in the 2022-23 season.
"The pain just got to the point where it had to be done because it felt like every stride I took there for those last couple of years felt like I had a knife going into my groin," Hagelin said. "It was hard to play the game I wanted to play."
The pain didn't go away following this procedure, though, which left Hagelin with few options. In February, he opted to undergo hip resurfacing surgery, the same procedure teammate Nicklas Backstrom had this past summer. That operation effectively ended Hagelin's season -- one he didn't play a game in -- but also set up the timeline for him to rehab and recover potentially before the start of the 2023-24 NHL season.
"When I had the scope right away, they knew it wasn't a home run," he said. "My hip was really messed up. ... We also had a deadline if it wasn't feeling good at a certain point, I need to get the resurfacing done in early February to be able to have a long enough rehab to be good to go next year if everything goes well."
Roughly two months removed from the procedure, Hagelin says he "feels good" but knows he has a long way to go. He has yet to skate -- something he wants to start in June before really amping up his training in both July and August. After that, Hagelin feels he'll have a good indication of whether he'll be able to play again.
"I need to get two and a half really good months on the ice skating and that would be late August," he said. "And at that point, if it feels good, I want to play in the NHL again."
Although Hagelin's NHL future remains uncertain, his work rehabbing from both his hip and eye injuries has left a lasting impression on several of his teammates.
"He’s been in a tough position almost a year and a half, but I never saw a guy who was [so] passionate about hockey," Alex Ovechkin said. "He [comes] here every day working hard, give[s] us the positive emotions. Yeah, he’s been great.”
"He's one of those guys that works hard and is eager to get back out there," Backstrom added. "Hopefully it works out. He's a great guy and we love having him."
Hagelin made it clear his goal is to play again, but he's taking it step by step for now and admitted he still feels weak. If he does ultimately reach the point where he's ready to play again, he plans to sit down with his agent to discuss possible next steps.
The past couple of years have undoubtedly been difficult for Hagelin, but he's thankful for everything the Capitals' organization has done to help him throughout the entire process.
"They've been great. They put me with the right people," he said. "Both my hip surgeons were the top surgeons in the U.S. My eye injury was the top surgeon in the U.S. Overall, they've been there for me. We've had good discussions. I only have good things to say about the Caps."
