Travis Zajac could miss six months for Devils after surgery
It’s around this time that NHL players begin to ramp up their training for the upcoming season. Players like Travis Zajac of the New Jersey Devils.
Unfortunately, players aren’t immune to injuries during off-season training. Players like Travis Zajac of the New Jersey Devils, who could miss up to six months (!) of the 2017-18 season after an injury suffered last week.
From Devils general manager Ray Shero on Thursday:
“This morning, Travis Zajac underwent successful surgery to repair a torn left pectoral muscle that was suffered last week during off-season training. The procedure was performed by the club’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jonathan L. Glashow. Zajac’s expected recovery time is approximately four to six months.”
Zajac had 14 goals and 31 assists in 80 games for the Devils last season, skating primarily with their two leading scorers: Wingers Kyle Palmieri (53 points) and Taylor Hall (53 points). He skated 19:43 per game, including an average of 2:34 on the power play and 2:19 on the penalty kill, the highest for any Devils forward. He also killed it in the faceoff circle at 54.7 percent.
Over the last three seasons, only Adam Henrique (133 points in 237 games) has more points with the Devils than did Zajac (112). Zajac, 32, is signed through 2021 with an average cap hit of $5.75 million.
The Devils now head into this season with Henrique and No. 1 overall pick Nico Hischier likely slotted as the top two centers. Does Pavel Zacha deserve a shot there, with Henrique shifting to the wing? Does offseason pickup Brian Boyle end up centering a third line?
The Devils have over $18 million in cap space at the moment. Do they dabble in an expiring contract from another team has a stop-gap? Does Ray call Lou and alieviate him of Tyler Bozak?
There are undoubtedly Devils fans that read this news and shrug at its significance. Zajac has his critics, and I’ve been one of them. But the counterargument is that he shouldn’t be judged on the salary that was handed to him, or because he’s been miscast so regularly as a poor man’s Patrice Bergeron when he’s probably better suited for a No. 3 center role on a better team. It’s a fair argument.
If the belief is the Devils are a bad hockey team, they just got worse.
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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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